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I saw The Wicker Man back in college and was pretty lukewarm on it, but I've come a long way since then in terms of my taste in film so I should probably revisit it soon.
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Sep 18, 2018 14:14
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The Contest: Let's kill several birds with one stone. Lesser known indie films, Canadian provenance, one confined setting vs. one larger world, and production dates in the first decade of the century. First goon to watch and review either Fido or Pontypool, preferably both but not required, can claim the Blu-ray. If the parricipant has seen one but not the other, watch and review the new-to-them film. If they've seen both, re-watch and review whichever they think would be most interesting to bring attention to in this thread. Need not be a balls out review but do put in some effort to do the film proper justice 'round here. Eligibility: The winner must have never seen 1978's Body Snatchers. They must also give me a correct shipping address. If they live outside the North American continent, I may just order a copy from their own hellish Amazon to be delivered if cheaper and/or than shipping this one overseas plus dealing with customs and potential for the disc to be region locked. Please link me the product page as a courtesy if not 'Murkin or Canadian. Claimed with a great double-review! https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3868801&pagenumber=7&perpage=40#post488082089 Butch Cassidy fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Sep 19, 2018 |
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Sep 18, 2018 14:23
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 The cherry blossom is an obvious symbol, isn't it? Beauty and death all bound up, can't get them undone. We look at it with that specific, pleasant kind of sadness, that it's a glimpse into something greater, its transience not only a part of it's beauty but an integral part of its connection to the greater universe. Which is one way of seeing. What if beauty and strength aren't eternal and transcendent but earthbound and corruptible? And that corruption isn't a possibility, it's an inevitability? And what if destroying something beautiful at the height of its beauty is the only way to preserve it, make it last any longer than a cherry blossom? Anyway, this is a love story. In lieu of a more verbose review here's a series of screens from Masahiro Shinoda's Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975)        Whatever impression you've got of this movie so far the real thing is MUCH weirder and has A LOT more pussy eating happening on camera! I even avoided anything from the especially gorgeous final sequence. I just wish Amazon had a version streaming that wasn't such low resolution.
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Sep 18, 2018 14:40
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graventy posted:What I like about Grave Encounters 2 is that it just takes the idea and runs with it. I like meta-sequels a lot, where the first movie exists in the world, and I like the dumb things it does with found footage.
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Sep 18, 2018 14:54
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 The Wolfman While this is not my favorite Universal monster movie, I felt the need to watch it because of it's important place as the origin of the Larry Talbot character. My next few selections from the 1940s will feature him, and it felt wrong to skip his introduction. It took me a while to come around to it, but Lon Chaney Jr. does have a sort of intangible genuine quality that does add something crucial to these movies. He's surrounded by various different scenery chewing arch characters, and he provides a necessary balance of normalcy even in the most ridiculous situations. He's just a regular, likeable dude, and that's actually not an easy thing to maintain amongst vampires and mad scientists and the rest. The werewolf scenes in this film still hold up today, because they're just so drat atmospheric. All of the little parts add to the experience as well, although I've always felt Lugosi could've been given more to do before his early exit. This first Wolfman story is actually a very effective tragedy, only I suppose made into a little bit of a joke retroactively by the various resurrections that Talbot would experience in the next several films. Of course, as always, I can't help but laugh my rear end off every time I see these two guys standing next to each other as supposedly father and son:   (it's technically possible, Rains is 17 years older than Chaney, but come on) Total: 1. Frankenstein(1931) 2. The Old Dark House(1932) 3. The Bride of Frankenstein(1935) 4. The Mummy(1932) 5. The Invisible Man(1933) 6. The Wolfman(1941) Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Sep 18, 2018 |
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Sep 18, 2018 14:56
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Forgot to mention, the staff pick for The Wind is a movie that isn't even out  It just got picked up for a 2019 release
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Sep 18, 2018 14:59
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Basebf555 posted:The werewolf scenes in this film still hold up today, because they're just so drat atmospheric. Yeah it's a gorgeous movie, and the blu-ray looks stunning. Some of it is a little goofy though, like why is it that when Bela turns into a werewolf, he is an actual wolf, but when Larry turns, he becomes only half wolf? Why does a werewolf strangle his victims instead of biting or scratching them? (I realize they couldn't show someone getting mauled by a wolf, but it still strikes me as funny)
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Sep 18, 2018 15:04
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gey muckle mowser posted:Yeah it's a gorgeous movie, and the blu-ray looks stunning. Some of it is a little goofy though, like why is it that when Bela turns into a werewolf, he is an actual wolf, but when Larry turns, he becomes only half wolf? Why does a werewolf strangle his victims instead of biting or scratching them? (I realize they couldn't show someone getting mauled by a wolf, but it still strikes me as funny) Also The Wolfman's tiny little baby steps because he's wearing like high heels or whatever they had to do to make the feet look like a wolf's.
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Sep 18, 2018 15:11
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SMP posted:Forgot to mention, the staff pick for The Wind is a movie that isn't even out Well would you look at that. If flashy_mcflash wants to pick a new staff pick, I'll change it out. Otherwise I guess I'll need to delete it. Basebf555 posted:Also The Wolfman's tiny little baby steps because he's wearing like high heels or whatever they had to do to make the feet look like a wolf's. The Wolfman hopping around in Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman is like watching a caffeinated child who's terrible at sneaking trying to play hide and seek
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Sep 18, 2018 15:33
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Friday the thread/challenge will have been active for one week. Stay tuned for something new.
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Sep 18, 2018 15:49
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Do regular Hitchcock films (ie not Psycho or The Birds) count towards the challenge and other similarly themed films such as Cape Fear and The Nanny?
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Sep 18, 2018 16:04
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Money Bags posted:Do regular Hitchcock films (ie not Psycho or The Birds) count towards the challenge and other similarly themed films such as Cape Fear and The Nanny? It really depends! Certainly his thrillers like Rear Window and The Lodger and The Lady Vanishes count, but if they feel more like a noir film or a drama, then I'd say they don't. Stuff like The Trouble With Harry, which is a dark comedy, counts because it's people trying to deal with a dead body, but stuff like Marnie and Strangers on a Train are more drama or crime-oriented. If there are specific movies you're interested in, see if they appear on any of the lists in the OP or a horror list with a legitimate curator, or just ask in here if it's okay. Either version of Cape Fear certainly counts. The Nanny is on They Shoot Zombies's list, so that's fine too. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Sep 18, 2018 |
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Sep 18, 2018 16:19
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Franchescanado posted:It really depends!... This is exactly the clarification I needed, thanks.
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Sep 18, 2018 16:37
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4. The Void (2016) An absolute horrific joy. This movie is a gradually unfolding Lovecraftian nightmare with insanely good practical effects for its minimal budget. The creatures in this movie are The Thing-like shambling monstrosities, with no creative editing to hide them. A bunch of solid twists involving both the cult besieging the hospital and the true motivations of the cast trapped inside. No real standouts from the cast, but a strong story and some striking visuals make this a worthwhile watch.
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Sep 18, 2018 17:26
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 Carnival of Souls (1962) 3/31 Directed by: Herk Harvey I put this one off for way too long. The David Lynch comparisons have been non-stop since this got rediscovered, but it's legit staggering how much of his style you can see hearken back to this film. The film uses really ingenious methods to compensate for the miniscule budget, creating an entrancing atmosphere and pretty much an entire style of horror. It's honestly kind of fitting that Herk Harvey came out with this absolute banger and then immediately decided to do PSA films for the rest of his career (including the terrifying Shake Hands With Danger).
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Sep 18, 2018 17:35
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Money Bags posted:Do regular Hitchcock films (ie not Psycho or The Birds) count towards the challenge and other similarly themed films such as Cape Fear and The Nanny? Watch Rope!
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Sep 18, 2018 17:53
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6. The Blob 1988 Fun, classic 80s horror flick. A mysterious object falls from the sky, and when the town hobo investigates he is attacked by a blob. So it begins. I’ve never seen a Blob film, and always sort of assumed that the creature was slow and inevitable, like zombies. Instead this Blob is quick to strike and deadly, like zombies. The movie subverted a lot of my expectations, setting up characters as potential leads and investing story time to them, only to have them get unceremoniously blobbed. I had a group of people I expected to survive until the end, and only a few of them actually made it. Plus I can enjoy a good anti-government tale. Fun to watch.  /57. Contracted 2013  A woman gets roofied and has sex after a party, and catches something. It’s a slow burn of a film, as the main character slowly gets sicker and sicker. The characters don’t really behave very sensibly (GO TO A DOCTOR) about anything that happens in the movie (REPORT THE RAPE). Though to be fair the main character spends most of the movie in denial about everything so I guess that fits too. And, when she does go to a doctor he's basically Dr. Nick, astonished and confused by every symptom. Any sympathy I could have for the main character is instantly lost near the end, when she sleeps with someone else. As a PSA to the rest of you if you get an STD that slowly makes you a zombie please do not gently caress around. It doesn’t make sense from any standpoint, as the main character looks like a methhead at best. Even if the nice guy did like her a lot he wouldn’t do that. /58. Contracted 2 2015  The nice guy from the first movie returns, newly infected but not enough for it to show up in blood tests for some dumb reason. He spends the film getting sicker, and spreading his disease to others who don’t deserve to be sick because of this rear end in a top hat. I like that it continues directly after the first one left off. That's fun. I dislike everything else. Dumb characters doing dumb things. A different but still dumb doctor. A protagonist who has deep scratches on his back (not in flashbacks to the first movie, by the way) but doesn't tell the doctor for some reason. The movie ends with an after credits scene that can only be taken as a threat that more Contracted movies will happen. They haven’t yet, at least. 0.5/5
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Sep 18, 2018 17:55
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Reading this thread is so frustrating. Like Choco I have decided to stay strict to October. Y’all cheatin’
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Sep 18, 2018 18:02
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Windows 98 posted:Reading this thread is so frustrating. Like Choco I have decided to stay strict to October. Y’all cheatin’ Just let go of you rules maaan, they're holding you back. Seriously though, I exercise self-control for 10.5 months a year, I'm taking these 6 weeks whether it's "cheating" or not.
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Sep 18, 2018 18:04
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I haven’t even picked 31 films yet 
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Sep 18, 2018 18:05
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Windows 98 posted:I haven’t even picked 31 films yet See that's your problem right there, you're thinking small. 31 is for beginners.
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Sep 18, 2018 18:06
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Basebf555 posted:Just let go of you rules maaan, they're holding you back. I start in September because I'm AWOL the last week of October.
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Sep 18, 2018 18:07
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Windows 98 posted:I haven’t even picked 31 films yet Picking movies is for chumps who don't want to sit through two awful Contracted movies. ...hmmm...
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Sep 18, 2018 18:08
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Jedit posted:I start in September because I'm AWOL the last week of October. Yea jokes aside, that's why it's done. Most people's social lives get pretty hectic as Halloween gets closer so these two weeks give people a chance to get a bit of a head start. So yea, cheating I guess, but for a good cause!
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Sep 18, 2018 18:10
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Basebf555 posted:See that's your problem right there, you're thinking small. 31 is for beginners. Unfortunately, this year I will be a grown man going back to college at nights. So I’ll be working 8-5, then school until 10pm, multiple nights a week. I’m just going to get as many done as possible. Between work, school, and homework, I will be extremely blessed if I can get all 31 :-/
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Sep 18, 2018 18:10
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Basebf555 posted:Yea jokes aside, that's why it's done. Most people's social lives get pretty hectic as Halloween gets closer so these two weeks give people a chance to get a bit of a head start. So yea, cheating I guess, but for a good cause! This, and the fact that I get requests for it within the first week of September. It's funny that people say it's cheating when its been the thread rule for three years now. It doesn't get stickied until October though , so that's a small victory for the purists.
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Sep 18, 2018 18:14
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 FRAN CHALLENGE #1: Love Something You Hate That's right! To add a new flavor to this thread, I'm going to throw out new challenges once or twice a week. They are completely optional, but they're designed make you think a little outside of the box and hopefully discover a new film you might not give a chance.  The first challenge is Love Something You Hate.  Pick a film from a horror sub-genre* that you don't like, and watch it.*If you dislike found footage movies, watch a found footage movie. Hate vampires? Time to watch that vampire movie you've been putting off. Do you irrationally hate James Wan? Time to rent The Conjuring. Do you hate movies that star Adam Scott? Time to watch Little Evil. Do you hate gore? Time to watch some gore, etc. or Pick a film that you have seen before that you hated, did not like or just didn't get. Rewatch it, and re-evaluate.Some of the challenges will be a little more open-ended, others will be rather specific. Only movies watched after the Fran Challenge has been posted can count towards the Fran Challenge. You do not get to retroactively count a movie towards a challenge. If you choose to accomplish a Fran Challenge, please post in your movie post that it's for the challenge. Fran Challenges stay open until November 1st unless otherwise stated.
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Sep 18, 2018 18:43
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 4. Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995, dir. Ernest Dickerson) Billy Zane going as hard as he can for 90 minutes, this movie is fun as hell and doesn't stop for a second once it gets going. Crypt Keeper segments are funny as well. 4/5  5. The Return of the Living Dead (1985, dir. Dan O'Bannon) Braaaaaains. Another fun one, I loved the punks and the setting and just the overall attitude and aesthetic of the film. It's fun and goofy while still maintaining a terrifying atmosphere and feeling that everything is hosed. My favorite part was the way that main zombie out of the tank moved. And its face. The Cramps on the soundtrack helps a lot as well. 4/5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74nxtmSzQg8 Total: 5. The Untold Story (3/5), The Sleep Curse (4/5), The Faculty (3/5), Demon Knight (4/5), Return of the Living Dead (4/5)
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Sep 18, 2018 18:57
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 7. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) [REWATCH] As much as I enjoy Ishirô Honda's work on Godzilla films I have to say that it is really nice seeing a fresh set of eyes on the Showa era films. Jun Fukuda injects a very energetic and colorful set of sensibilities into Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. The way the camera moves around the fight scenes puts you right in the action. Specifically the over the shoulder shots were just awesome. When I say that the film is colorful, I mean it literally as in there are a lot of very colorful sets that just pop off the screen. I also mean that the film has a sort of youthful flair with surf rock songs finding their way on the soundtrack, and a set of young protagonists that have found their way in a dire situation. The plot reminds me of a GI Joe story and features way more human action and espionage scenes than big monsters fighting. I think this was my original issue with this film, but now that I have gotten older I quite like the goofy Red Bamboo terrorist plot. Apparently this film was originally supposed to be a King Kong film and I can see that. It's heavy on action/adventure and all takes place on an island, so don't expect a ton of Zilla rampaging through miniature buildings. The change from Kong also means that we missed out on him and Mothra in the same film. Ebirah isn't the most engaging opponent, and its design is literally just a big lobster, but I think that the final battle is lots of fun. Overall good movie that I think gets too much flack. It's cool if you don't want to count it but I hit preview reply and this fits Fran Challenge #1 so I'll elaborate a bit. When I was younger I thought Ebirah was dull because all I was looking for was Godzilla stomping through cities and fighting cool monsters, both of which don't happen much in this film. Now that I've gotten the monster stomping lust out of my system and I can look at Godzilla films separated from that I'm actually pretty fond of Ebirah.
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Sep 18, 2018 19:00
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 11) Dracula 1931 While the Stoker novel's not bad, the storyline for the movie mostly comes from the successful Broadway play with some inspiration from Nosferatu. It's pretty much become the template for most retellings of Dracula. Lugosi had been portraying Dracula on the stage and the role ended up being both blessing and curse for him since while he was propelled to stardom, he was typecast. The edits for Dracula are pretty minor compared to others. There was an epilogue like the intro monologue in Frankenstein which was cut for possibly offending religious groups for promoting a belief in vampires. As far as I go, it's a longtime personal fave to the point Dracula was one of my top costumes for Halloween, followed by Dr. Death from Madhouse and Elvira, when I had the shape to wear it right. Since my DVD is the 2004 Legacy release, I did also sit through the version with the Phillip Glass soundtrack. I'm kinda on the fence with it since in some areas, I do feel it works such as close ups on Dracula with the lighting enhanced stare, but in other areas it came across kinda obstructive such as when Dracula goes to tap the vein on Renfield for the first time. I don't so much hate it as I feel it could've used a better execution.  12) Drácula 1931 Mostly known for being filmed on the same sets as Lugosi's Dracula after the day crew went home, Drácula made the most of what they had from watching the English language dailies to see how they could improve or do differently. It also has a longer run time. Some of the footage used was from the Lugosi Dracula and if you watch carefully you can see it. Overall, I feel the differences between the two makes for a better film on this one. When this came out on video, I lost count how many times I'd recommend it to Spanish teachers coming into Blockbuster for films to show at class because of it's familiarity. I still highly recommend watching this one just to see the differences. I still chuckle at my reaction when Eva is describing Drácula visiting her at night and her saying she felt like she wasn't a virgin anymore. I did a doubletake since I'd never heard virgin get used in a 30s era picture before.
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Sep 18, 2018 19:01
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CRAYON posted:
You posted it after the challenge was announced, and you did a write-up of how it fits, so it counts! Good work.
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Sep 18, 2018 19:02
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FancyMike posted:My favorite part was the way that main zombie out of the tank moved. PSA: his name is Juicy Zombie Don't listen to anyone else who may come in after this post and try to push Tar Man, it's Juicy Zombie. Thank you.
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Sep 18, 2018 19:11
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3. The Hands of Orlac (1924, Robert Wiene) What I love most about these classic horror movies is how they tackle high concepts with such sincerity. "A man loses his hands in an accident and they're replaced with the hands of a recently executed murderer. And now the murders continue!" That's a premise that nowadays nearly writes itself. But in 1924 this was novel stuff and the film works because of it. Since the film buys into it, so do we. Conrad Veidt gives a strong, albeit highly theatrical, performance. I mean I know the exaggerated performances are par for the course in films this early so that's not a complaint. In fact Veidt's overwrought physical movements kinda work in harmony with his chiseled features, intense eyes and tall slender stance. He's a bit spooky looking even when he's not trying to be (it's quite apparent why Wiene cast him as Caesar in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). I really enjoyed watching him here. He very effectively paints a picture of a man nearing the edge of sanity. Something else worth mentioning is the wonderful score by Paul Mercer on the copy I watched. Something that often bugs me about silent film scores is when the tone of the music doesn't match that of the film. But this one nails it. It's ominous and serious without being cheesy. It fits the film quite well. I'm not sure what other scores are out there, but I highly recommend this one. If I have one small complaint about the movie it's its leisurely pacing. The film might have benefited from being a 90 minute movie instead of a 113 minute one. There were a few times when I was ready for a shot to cut away and it just... didn't. But again, that's pretty typical for silents, and it's a tiny quibble.   (4 murderous hands out of 5) Spatulater bro! fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Sep 18, 2018 |
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Sep 18, 2018 19:15
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Basebf555 posted:PSA: his name is Juicy Zombie Seconding this. For short we call him Jay Z
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Sep 18, 2018 19:17
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Basebf555 posted:PSA: his name is Juicy Zombie while this is true, it's also worth noting that 95% of horror fans have no idea what the hell a Juicy Zombie is and call him Tar Man, so both names are worth knowing just so you can avoid confusion
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Sep 18, 2018 20:52
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:while this is true, it's also worth noting that 95% of horror fans have no idea what the hell a Juicy Zombie is and call him Tar Man, so both names are worth knowing just so you can avoid confusion It's an educational opportunity.
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Sep 18, 2018 20:52
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:while this is true, it's also worth noting that 95% of horror fans have no idea what the hell a Juicy Zombie is and call him Tar Man, so both names are worth knowing just so you can avoid confusion This talk triggered a memory I had kind of forgotten. So when I saw Return Of The Living Dead around the age of... 12, it was the most scary poo poo I had ever seen. In particular the scene where the zombie is strapped to the table and talks about the pain of being dead and why they eat brains That poo poo triggered some major anxiety about mortality in my young mind, the entire idea that just being dead was pain and how real the prop in particular looked. Cut to a few years later and I attended my first con and walking through the exhibit room. The actual torso prop from the movie was on display in there. It was an absolute mind gently caress to me at the time to be face to face with that thing. But, it did ease some of that to see it as a motionless piece of rubber and foam after I thought about it a while. A bit of dumb story, but I hadn't thought about it in a long time.
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Sep 18, 2018 21:05
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He’s Tarman. I’m prepared to die on this hill, come back to life, and eat your brains
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Sep 18, 2018 21:12
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Basebf555 posted:PSA: his name is Juicy Zombie  6. The Evil of Frankenstein (1964, dir. Freddie Francis) My first Hammer horror, which is something I aim to fix this year. This is a very good looking movie, I love the sets, costumes, and of course the monster. Overall pretty simple and straightforward but it was a very pleasant watch and I'm really starting to see what people love about Peter Cushing. The townsfolk showing up with pitchforks to a castle already on fire was a nice play on the '31 film. 3/5 Total: 6. The Untold Story (3/5), The Sleep Curse (4/5), The Faculty (3/5), Demon Knight (4/5), Return of the Living Dead (4/5), The Evil of Frankenstein (3/5)
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Sep 18, 2018 21:22
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 16:12 |
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His names Tarman.
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Sep 18, 2018 21:25
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