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#1 - The Witching Season (2015-2017) Welp, starting off the challenge by unintentionally cheating a little - I didn't realize until after starting this that it was actually five separate shorts on the blu-ray instead of a true anthology film, but they are all from the same writer(s)/director(s), add up to feature length, and even reference each other a bit, so it doesn't seem like an important distinction to make, therefore I'm counting it anyway. Deal with it, nerds.  Anyway, this is a collection of five horror shorts, all set on Halloween. The segments vary in length, ranging from 30 minutes or so to less than 10. The shorter ones are little more than a simple creepy idea without much plot (an alien abduction, a creepy figure outside the window), but for what they are they work pretty well. The longest, "They Live Inside Us", is the most complex and even has some mini-segments within it. It is probably the best of the bunch in terms of quality, but I actually liked the first one the best, a short slasher called "Killer on the Loose" that is a simple idea executed really well. These are indie horror films without (I'm assuming) much in the way of budgets, but other than some occasionally mediocre acting it doesn't really show. The production values are high throughout, and I think that both directors, Ballif especially, could really do some great things with a feature film. I hope they get to work on one soon. The shorts are all available on the Witching Season Film's YouTube page, so if you're interested you can watch them there. If you are only going to watch one, I recommend "Killer on the Loose", but I think they are all worth your time. gey muckle mowser fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Sep 15, 2018 |
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Sep 15, 2018 19:53
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Basebf555 posted:Unfortunately as a director I don't think Barker ever realized that potential he showed with Hellraiser. I agree that Nightbreed is over-ambitious and a bit of a mess. One of the folks I follow on Letterboxd called it a 2-hour long cantina scene and I think that’s a good way to sum it up. Friends Are Evil fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Sep 15, 2018 |
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Sep 15, 2018 20:01
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Nightbreed is easily one of my favorite horror films. I think the big issue is that Barker never really got his vision onto the screen because if interference. Like his Directors cuts of both Lord of Illusion and Nightbreed are pretty fantastic. Also they're both really wierd films and I don't think people knew how to approach his fantasy horror films. Del Toro did the same thing though better but still he's doing fantasy horror.
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Sep 15, 2018 20:10
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3. Night Of The Living Dead Part of my theme for anniversaries, this movie is in it's 50th and is still I would say as relevant as ever from face value down to the unintentional subtext. I probably haven't seriously watched this movie and paid attention to it since I was a teen but I was happy to find I still found as entertaining as I originally did. It reminded me what I actually used to see in the zombie movie genre that's been so sadly watered down in the current year. The zombies are threatening, unknown, and horrifying. The humans are on edge, afraid, resourceful, but still fighting hard against their own insecurity or not wanting to understand the gravity of the situation even with literal death beating down the door. Dawn Of The Dead is seeing it's 40th anniversary and I'm even more excited to see it now than I was.
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Sep 15, 2018 20:28
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How do we feel about doing horror TV for the challenge? Personally, I figure a group of episodes could count if the combined run time (no commercials) is over 80 minutes.
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Sep 15, 2018 20:30
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1. Hell House, LLC (2015) | Amazon Prime I'll say the horror thread's 2nd biggest influence--the 1st being a deep dive into Italian horror--is the popularity of Found Footage movies, a genre I'd written off after the release of Paranormal Activity 2. This movie has been recommended a lot.  An amusement production company, Hell House, spends a month building a haunted house attraction for Halloween in an abandoned hotel that locals believe to be haunted. It's a fun premise. I got to at least one haunted house amusement park every October. It's easy to find legitimate fear at such a place. There's hundreds of unrecognizable people in a terrifying heightened reality. There's another film that will be coming out soon, Hell Fest, that seems to capture the same compelling setting. The Found Footage format makes it difficult to create fulfilling emotional arcs for the characters. You're getting glimpses of these characters. The logic of the genre feels like you have to keep the pacing fast, you have to get to the scares frequently, and you have to keep the run-time low. While the group isn't fully fleshed out, there are some fun editing techniques to push the viewer into having a larger emotional response in the final act. There's seems to be an underlying theme of trying to capitalize on real-life tragedy in the name of entertainment. The characters keep secrets from each other, and by proxy the viewer is reminded that we don't fully know what's going on, and how much everyone knows.There's just enough mystery to make a rewatch fun. There are some effective scares on display. I felt very tense during several segments involving the clown. Recommended.  Movies Seen: Hell House, LLC | Total: 1
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Sep 15, 2018 20:33
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SomeJazzyRat posted:How do we feel about doing horror TV for the challenge? Personally, I figure a group of episodes could count if the combined run time (no commercials) is over 80 minutes. You can refer to the FAQs for clarification, and it depends on the show, but I'd say that it's frowned upon. I figured the closest I'll allow is a mini-series with a finite ending, like Storm of the Century or The Stand or even True Detective, but it will only count as one film. Two episodes of American Horror Story may count as a feature-length film according to run-time, but it'd be hard to count those as a film but then a whole mini-series only counts as one film. Because then we could potentially have goons watching three episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark and The Twilight Zone instead of actual horror films, which is the point of the challenge. Also, this is CineD, and not TVIV. So let's just say, officially, episodes of TV don't count. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Sep 15, 2018 |
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Sep 15, 2018 20:36
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 3) Haxan: Witchcraft through the Ages 1922 This one's essentially Malleus Mallificarum: The Movie. The film's organized as a mix of documentary with some elements that could be argued as found footage. The beginning is enough to set any history major's teeth on edge with inaccuracies like saying the Egyptian Gods were demons and presuming all ancient cultures had the same concept of the universe. After that segment, the film's balls out wild with depictions of all the stereotypes we know so well including a Black Mass with the Devil presiding, nudity and ample butter churning euphemisms for masterbation and orgies. The film also touches on cases of mental illness that could've been presumed as demonic influence including mass hysteria at a nunnery which one could argue this being the earliest idea of nunsploitation. With the depiction of a witch risking torture and trial if caught along with punishment from the Devil for not being evil enough, it makes one wonder why would they even bother practicing witchcraft in the first place. All in all, definitely worth sitting through as an example of film history, especially with how many clips from this turn up elsewhere. It would probably pair well with VVitch if you're doing a double feature and not mind a lengthy silent film in the mix. I also think this is the only film where the Devil has a set of love handles.  4) Hands of Orlac 1924 This one's an early if not the first example of the body horror subgenre playing on the fears of surgical transplants. I hadn't seen this one before, but have sat through it's remake, Mad Love. The story here is an up and coming concert pianist is in a train accident and loses his hands. An executed killer's hands are transplanted and the pianist begins to wonder if he's inherited the killer's murderus instincts through the hands. I have some issues with some of the pacing in this one, but it's still worth a watch. Veidt really sells the idea of the hands seeming to have a mind of thier own. Interesting tidbit is the film did have some censoring controversy early on, not from the horror aspects but from law enforcement who were concerned with depictions of police procedure potentially educating criminals on how to commit better crimes.
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Sep 15, 2018 20:40
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2. Mandy (2018, Panos Cosmatos) Cosmatos' Beyond the Black Rainbow was a (mostly successful) exercise in stunning visuals, but where that film was missing some heart, Mandy isn't. It's seriously affecting. By the time the film reaches its manic, blood-soaked third act, I cared about the outcome. This is a movie made for people who don't like the way most movies are made. It's deliberately paced, hyper stylized, hyper violent and it has Nic Cage snorting cocaine off of broken glass. i.e. not your typical movie. And I thank god it exists. If the best death metal could be transposed into a film, it'd look a lot like Mandy. It's the sort of film I wait patiently for, dredging through movies with humdrum visuals, conventional narratives and soulless music. This is a movie that reminds me why I love movies.   (5 cheddar goblins out of 5) Spatulater bro! fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Sep 15, 2018 |
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Sep 15, 2018 22:23
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2/31 In my previous review, I said that Halloween II was a film that was clearly never intended to exist. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers fulfills that to the fullest extent. John Carpenter and company intended for Halloween II to be the end of the story for The Shape and Laurie Strode. Michael and Dr. Loomis are both killed in a fiery blaze and Laurie's night of horror finally ends. They wanted to continue with the franchise as an anthology series similar to The Twilight Zone or today's American Horror Story. The third film, Halloween III: The Season of the Witch, was a completely unrelated and rather bizarre story about the power of Stonehenge being harnessed to magically kill children through Halloween masks that treated the previous two films about Michael Myers as in-universe movies. The poor reception and box office performance of the film led to the fourth bringing Myers back, which entailed undoing the ending of the second. Halloween 4 takes place in 1988, a decade after the events of the previous two films. Laurie Strode died an inglorious off-screen death in a car crash, leaving the comatose Michael (who survived 12 shots of .38 Special to the chest, two .357 Magnum rounds to the head, and being immolated) to wake up and pursue her daughter, Jamie Lloyd; Rachel, a previous babysitting ward of Laurie's, serves as the Laurie of this film. Despite being at the epicenter of a huge fiery explosion and stabbed in the stomach with a scalpel, Loomis has also survived with only minor facial scarring and the use of a cane to continue his pursuit. It wouldn't be until the fifth and sixth film when the series tried to establish a convoluted druid mythology to explain why Myers continues surviving dozens of fatal injuries. There's no explanation for why Loomis holds the same resilience. The film's style is obviously different from its predecessors and showcases the chiaroscuro and multi-colored lighting that would define late 80s and 90s horror. Stylistically, the lighting choices are surprisingly complex for such schlock. Myers is suddenly possessed with superhuman strength above and beyond what he was originally capable of; the first kill involves him stabbing his thumb through a man's skull. Also in following with horror trends, the jump scares are louder and more frequent than ever before. Most characters are flat and many of the ones apart from Rachel and Loomis are assholes that nobody will miss. Little makes sense, from Jamie having visions of Michael Myers (even as a child) to Michael stabbing a mechanic with a pipe for his jumpsuit and the final costume not having a hole in it. Loomis shoots at Michael, who disappears from the path of the bullets so fast that it implies teleportation. The sequels would establish magical explanations, but they don't exist in here. Michael Myers is truly a force with no explanation, defying physics and medicine to continue killing as Jamie has unexplainable visions. Despite this, I somehow like it more than the second film. Its predecessor was too derivative of the original and completely failed to innovate except in somewhat more creative kills. Halloween 4 is still dumb as hell, but at least it's dumb in a different way. The set design and lighting choices are actually interesting and serve to make for a more attractive film. While I would never recommend it to anyone who's not already a hardcore franchise fanatic, I would recommend far more than Halloween II, a film that would likely have been forgotten as a pointless sequel to a classic had the franchise not continued.
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Sep 15, 2018 22:34
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2) Poltergeist 2 I have never seen this I dunno how though. Anyway I really enjoyed this a lot despite it's mediocre plot. The reason I liked it is because they just amped the insanity of the film up to a thousand. Also it's got a tremendous amount of practical special effects which are always nice to seen. The acting is still solid and the plot is a bit shoehorned but really the special effects are worth sticking through this for . /5
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Sep 15, 2018 23:19
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1) Hallowe'en III: Season of the Witch (1982) AKA "the one without Michael Myers in". Featuring a bunch of Halloween masks, a stolen megalith, a heavily telegraphed final "scare", hilariously poor special effects, a large number of ambulatory mannequins (AKA "the cast") and absolutely nothing that is in the slightest frightening, shocking, disturbing or interesting. One of the worst movies I've ever seen. Positive points: there's a nice bit of music in the opening scene.
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Sep 15, 2018 23:33
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I wish I could count Mandy towards my total but I saw it on Thursday. Highly recommended, though. One of my favorites of the year.
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Sep 15, 2018 23:57
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Hollismason posted:2) Poltergeist 2 I have never seen this I dunno how though. Anyway I really enjoyed this a lot despite it's mediocre plot. The reason I liked it is because they just amped the insanity of the film up to a thousand. Also it's got a tremendous amount of practical special effects which are always nice to seen. The acting is still solid and the plot is a bit shoehorned but really the special effects are worth sticking through this for. If you haven't seen Poltergeist 3, that one's pretty cool too, even if it still isn't at the level of the original. It's directed by Gary Sherman (of Dead & Buried) if that means anything. It has a very different kind of feeling from the first two movies, which is partly because almost the entire cast was removed.
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Sep 16, 2018 00:15
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I'm debating what my personal rules for this challenge are going to be. Every year I have the rule that it's one movie a day, only in October. And so far I've had the rule that I'm only watching movies that are new to me. But the well of interesting things that I haven't seen is running really dry at this point. I was thinking I might go for something like theme weeks instead. Or start with silent movies and walk through them. There's a lot of classic stuff that I haven't seen in years that I'd like to watch again. Maybe what I'll do is take the next two weeks rewatching some classics since to me those won't "count" for my personal challenge, and then watch all new movies for October. One thing I have done right now is ordered a copy of 1931's Dracula because I've been telling myself I need to watch the Spanish version for decades and I haven't gotten around to it, so this is the year I finally watch it. I will toss out something special for those people with university accounts. A streaming service called Kanopy exists for schools and it has a limited selection but it's basically Criterion Collection films, foreign films, and cult films. I know that not many people in the thread will be able to use it, but I thought I'd mention it since it has a kind of wacky selection that you don't find on other streaming services.
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Sep 16, 2018 00:17
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You can use Kanopy if you have a library card. Its limited to 3 rentals a month, so I don't know if that's different from if you have a student id, but there's a couple of movies on my potential watch list from them. Edit: Or, I guess I should say my library gets me access to Kanopy. I assume that would hold true to others but I don't actually know that. My library has a second service called Hoopla that seems to be there's alone. I'll be hopefully finally be seeing Suspiria through that in October.
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Sep 16, 2018 00:23
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3) Pet This is a pretty decent film and its hard to write about it without spoiling some things. Its definitely a great little "bottle" horror film and all the members of the cast give some really great performances. It drags a bit at the beginning but once things start ramping up it builds some pretty great tension. / 5
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Sep 16, 2018 00:41
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STAC Goat posted:You can use Kanopy if you have a library card. Its limited to 3 rentals a month, so I don't know if that's different from if you have a student id, but there's a couple of movies on my potential watch list from them. The university library allows me to stream as many movies as I want from them. Also, they're shocking responsive. I sent them an e-mail about a find/replace error that screwed up the subtitles in Tokyo Story and they had it fixed in minutes. Edit: Wacky question that I thought of while plotting things out. Obviously television episodes don't count, but how about opera? The Met is broadcast to movie theaters now as a performance. Not that there's a whole lot of opera that I'd call "horror", I was just thinking it might be an interesting different choice for viewing this month. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 00:43
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#3 - Maximum Overdrive (1986) I could barely make it through this, and I was on the fence about counting it as my number three. But I'll reward myself for the effort it took. The story behind the film is far more interesting than the film itself, as it is Stephen King's first and last directorial effort. He was "coked out of his mind" and later called it a "moron movie", in his words, which is going to likely be the case for movies with several ACDC songs. I felt a little tripped out about it taking place in Wilmington, NC, due to Hurricane Florence just making landfall there, as I know nothing else about the city nor do I know of any other movie with that setting, and it was a weird coincidence.  The character development is nonexistent other than the lead regretting his petty criminal background. Everyone is a southern stereotype - women are dingbats, men are sexist pigs, uneducated, and there's even a Bible salesman. Oh, and Lisa Simpson's voice actor is in this for quite a bit, a few years before The Simpsons. I bet she never in a million years thought she'd be as wealthy as Stephen King.
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Sep 16, 2018 01:14
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4) The Predator (2018) Very disappointing film overall. From the magical autistic child to the weird sexism. Overall like I'd rate it above the other sequels except for Predator 2 which owns. Very gory film. The weird thing is it doesn't feel like a Shane Black film at all. Like none of his signature stuff is in it . Like sure there are quips and such but that dark humor isn't really present I felt. Also The Predators in the film are gene splicers and they want to use the genes to make themselves better, but then at the end the Predator is like "This autistic boy I need to get his genes to become autistic? " Weird. Also they talk and that's offputting / 5 5) Bewitched (1981 Shaw Brothers ) . I felt this was a little to serious for the genre really of the Chinese Hong Kong Gore Films that were made 1970 til whenver they stopped. The plot concerns a man who is cursed by a woman he met in Thailand because he suffered from erectile dysfunction and couldn't gently caress her. So she went to a evil Taoist wizard and placed 7 curses on him. This led to the guy killing his daughter and that's how the story starts. Sort of in fact there's a full 40 minute flash back that serves really no purpose other than we see this guy cavorting around Thailand and the woman runs down the beach naked for like 10 minutes. Then it drags a bit and finally we get to the Taoist Good vs Evil Wizard battles which are always awesome and what's the main draw. So the last half of the movie is ust like this cop trying to stop this evil wizard or something I dunno . Overall I'd rate this on the low end of the spectrum for crazy poo poo. A warning about Shaw brothers films they do actually kill actual animals in the films usually a chicken sometimes a snake. So if you don't like seeing that avoid. Oh and a guy drinks fetus water. Also, the film ends with a message about not having casual sex. Like literally, words come on the screen and are like "Beware of Voodoo , and Casual Sex"  / 5
Hollismason fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 01:43
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3-Ernest Scared Stupid I used to love Ernest movies when I was a kid, but I actually never finished this one because the troll scared the poo poo out of me. And I mean, in my defence:  The effects work on him is pretty great and he is scary as hell. Luckily my kid is considerably braver than I was at his age so he stuck it out. As for the rest of the movie, I mean it’s an Ernest movie, you know what you’re going to get. I probably wouldn’t watch it myself as an adult, but it’s a good family pick. Also Earth Kitt is great in it. Opopanax fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 03:23
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2. Dagon 2001, dir. Stuart Gordon I consider Stuart Gordon one of my favorite horror directors. I approached this one with trepidation. It's reputation isn't great, and it's an early 00's film, which made me assume there was going to be bad CGI.  My biggest issue actually doesn't involve the wonky CGI, though it's certainly there. My issue lies with the departure of Mac Ahlberg as the DP. He really knows how to use the camera to capture Stuart Gordon's style and energy and menacing humor, and did so in Re-Animator, From Beyond, Dolls, Robotjox, as well as House, Deep Star Six, Beverly Hills Cop 3 and Good Burger). Dagon suffers from some choices made by this film's DP Carlos Suarez, specifically lens and too much steadicam. There are moments of greatness throughout, like a prolonged flashback of the film's monsters origins where the style is restrained and it pays off with some of the film's best images, but a lot of it is undercut by lens that make everything look cheap. The actual production is fantastic. The production design manages to make the town look old, lived-in and wet. This movie made me feel uncomfortable with how wet everything was. The town is gross, and the choreography and characteristics of the monstrous residents is perfect at providing a sense of unearthly danger throughout. The make-up, the monster effects, and the gore, when physical, are gruesome. There is a moment when a character gets the skin of their face removed that shook me. This movie also suffers from not having Jeffrey Combs as a lead. Normally I wouldn't judge a movie for not having an actor, but Ezra Godden, despite putting in good work as the lead, was clearly hired for looking like Jeffrey Combs. The quality of the storytelling also carries the weight of the flaws. There isn't a dull moment in the film. It still has Stuart Gordon's energy and he knows how to throw in surprises when you aren't expecting. The story along with the production design on the setting and the sense of hopelessness for the characters in the situation make for a flawed, but ultimately great and entertaining film.  While it's no Re-Animator or From Beyond, it weirdly fits well alongside Castle Freak (which also used a DP local to the film location rather than Ahlberg) as a lesser-tier-but-still-good Stuart Gordon flick. Recommended. Movies Seen: Hell House, LLC | Dagon Total: 2
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Sep 16, 2018 04:03
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Day -16 - Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LOOhc2eML4 So I decided I'd try my idea of rewatching stuff I've been wanting to rewatch for September and then switching to things I haven't seen for the actual challenge. I don't know if I'll watch a movie a day for September but I'll give it a try. There's some movies I have rewatched in the past few years so I'm probably not going to watch the Evil Dead trilogy or House, but there's lots of other movies I haven't seen in over ten years that are deserving of a rewatch. I'm thinking of this as a chance to watch 16 really awesome movies before I stab in the dark at 31 new ones. What better way to kick this off than with one of the most influential horror movies ever made? It's just astounding to me that before Nosferatu vampires didn't care about the sun, but the movie embedded that idea so deeply into popular consciousness that it's now unavoidable. Even if it was actually the cock's crow that did in Count Orlock. I feel like I'm going to be saying all of the obvious things as I talk about great horror movies, but isn't Max Schreck amazing? He does so much despite the heavy make-up (don't bother with the Shadow of the Vampire references). I almost wish that he could have been in the film more because he's incredible to watch. I'm not sure that would have been a good idea, though. Schreck's Orlok is a monster through and through, so giving him heavier screentime might have diluted the effect. It's a real constrast to Lugosi's Dracula who was the urbane European gentleman so he could give a charming performance. Two dramatically different takes on what is in essence the same character and they're both great. Then there's the cinematography. As I started watching the movie I was thinking, "I don't remember Nosferatu looking this mundane." Very flatly shot, sparse sets, lighting that left everything washed out. I remembered the movie as one of the showcases of German Expressionism and this looked like a generic early 20's silent film. Of course what happened is the mood and design and imagery really kicked in once Orlok showed up. Maybe the effect wasn't as great as it was when the film was originally released, but it's an interesting choice that adds a lot to those Orlok scenes. I don't know why more people don't copy the style of the silhouette scenes. The look astonishing but I can't think of a recent movie that used a monstrous shadow interacting with the world. Something I had forgotten about this film is that it gives Ellen, the Mina character, some real agency in the story. She chooses to lure Orlok to his doom even though it will kill her. That's way more interesting than most adaptations of Dracula that don't even allow Mina to have the minor impact on the story as she does in the book. Mina is the victim, the pure woman seduced by the foreign devil who must be rescued from his clutches by her husband. Ellen, on the other hand, finds out the vampires weakness and seduces him. I had not read Dracula when I first watched Nosferatu but I knew the outline of the story and could see the reflections. Now that I have read the book, though, it's really easy to see how Nosferatu is Dracula with the serial numbers filed off. So, great movie. A little clunky in the early cinema way but the cinematography and Schreck's performance easily outweigh those problems. FWIW, I am not following this up with Shadow of the Vampire. I didn't care for the movie when it came out, though I will concede I might like it better since I just watched Nosferatu. I think I'm going to watch something a little wilder tomorrow. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 04:41
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 3. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) Quick aside, I'm watching this before Kong Kong vs. Godzilla as I don't have access to that film at this time. After having just finished Godzilla Raids Again this instantly feels like a giant step up. Most of the runtime is spent with a fun story about 2 reporters and a scientist trying to protect a giant egg from a couple villainous businessmen. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed watching the trio plus their colleagues work through this problem. They have really great chemistry that makes for some really fun scenes. One of the side characters, a reporter that is always eating eggs in some form really cracked me up. The story gets more serious once we learn from two tiny singing ladies that the egg belongs to Mothra, a giant moth who has been helping an island on the brink of death due to nuclear testing in the area. Not giving a poo poo about any of this, Godzilla emerges from underground and starts wreaking havoc. The trio, despite having previously failed all attempts at returning the egg, must ask the island and their protector Mothra for help. The culminating battle is really fun and the special effects were very well done for the time. I really enjoyed this one, it got me excited for more after the Raids Again speed bump. CRAYON fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 07:28
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1. Mandy (2018) Just like everyone else, I watched Mandy, and it was awesome. A visually stunning feast for the eyes with an incredible soundtrack. I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been covered except that it is well worth a watch. /52. Patient Zero (2018)  This movie began casting in 2014 and languished in development hell until being unceremoniously dumped onto VOD this year. I figured I'd give it a shot. I like Matt Smith, Stanley Tucci, Natalie Dormer, and John Bradley. The end result is a by-the-numbers zombie film that manages to combine 28 Days Later with Dawn of the Dead minus all the charm and originality that came with it's predecessors. After an outbreak that causes a majority of the populace to become rage zombies, Matt Smith, who was bitten but did not turn, lives underground with survivors and military, trying to find the patient zero that will allow them to manufacture a cure. The bite that failed to turn him gave him the ability to speak to, and thus interrogate, captured zombies. That, in and of itself, isn't an awful concept, but the plot limps along in entirely predictable ways until having the audacity to end on a cliffhanger and a monologue. /53. Castle Rock (2018)  This was a delight. If you're an unabashed Stephen King fan, like myself, and are willing to enjoy something that is so referential, up to and including typical King failures, then this show is for you. The story is intriguing, the performances are a lot of fun (Particularly by Bill Skarsgård and Sissy Spacek) and you'll spend each episodes searching for the insane amount of King universe Easter eggs. My only complaints are some slow story points and I'm not entire sure if the ending sticks the landing. However, it almost feels...right? King has a long and storied history of having his work fizzle in the final act and it almost feels true to form that Castle Rock's ending comes to a not entirely satisfying close. /5
Several Goblins fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 07:44
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Retro Futurist posted:3-Ernest Scared Stupid I personally find it to hold up just fine as an adult. Probably helps that I was also a big fan of the whole series. That said, the rest are much less entertaining for adult me where Scared Stupid is still great. They just did a really good job blending solid effects, better than usual characters, balancing horror and comedy, used Rimshot for an effective tug at the heartstrings, played childhood whimsy in a way that kids would want in on that crazy poo poo amd adults can remember more imaginative days, and the Botswanian lumberjack bit is still one of the most hilarious gratuitous character one-liners Varney ever filmed. Ertha Kitt, as you said, deserves her own specific mention. Whoever thought to cast her in the role really derserved to be cut a bonus check. I can't think of amyome else who could have nailed that role so perfectly. My wife was amused at just how amped I was to finally introduce the kids to it when the time came.
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Sep 16, 2018 13:26
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I have been waiting for this thread all month. Last year I made it up to ~17 films before tapping out (life has a habit of taking over) but this year I will try to make a solid effort to get to at least 31 films before the end. That way I should be able to balance life and this challenge and hit my goal. If prizes are involved and I'm in the running just let it be known I'm in Canada. 1. The Conjuring 2 (2016) The original Conjuring was a bit of surprise in 2013. Not only for being really drat good horror it was a raw throwback to the 70s style where modern demonic possession and haunted houses were the two popular subgenres. I rewatched it prior to this challenge to catch up because I plan to watch the whole Conjuring universe this challenge (so it doesn't count, just new horror movies for me). It relied on jump scares more often than not but the very solid direction by James Wan somehow made it all work. The sequel is more of the same but with success and bigger plans it loses some of the rawness so the jump scares are more pronounced. I liked the story and honestly the build in the beginning of the possession was really solid (but not as intense and manic as the original). One little thing about Conjuring 2 that I didn't like was it REALLY nails you over the head that its set in 70s London where-as the original was more nuanced and I honestly forgot it was set in the 70s and went with it. Also, near the end it starts to fall apart because shared universes are a big thing nowadays. Blatant set-ups to films like The Nun feel like to get the rest of the story buy another ticket (a flaw of shared universes). Overall, it's a fine start. .5/5
Justin Godscock fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 14:19
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2. Hellraiser 2 (1988) I loved this movie. It really felt like a refining of what made the first Hellraiser great, with overall stronger performances and an expansion of the Cenobite mythos. I was really worried in the beginning that it was going to just be a mental hospital movie, where no one believes Kirsty and the puzzle box is slowly solved around her, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Also pleasantly surprising was how much more I enjoyed Clare Higgins in this. She gets a lot more opportunity to cut loose and be the tempter that I felt Frank in the first movie was lacking. I wish the Netflix scan of the film was a little better quality, especially in the Labyrinth parts, but I can't fault the filmmakers on their ambition for the weird matte painting Escher hellscape they created. Though as someone dealing with a springtail nest in his sink, I'm glad to leave Barker behind for a bit. So many goddamned bugs.
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Sep 16, 2018 15:17
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 5) Phantom of the Opera 1925 God I loving LOVE this movie. In general, my biggest gripe I tend to have with silent films is the pacing which is understandable considering how much silent film is rooted in classic theater sensibilities and I've never really been a theater type person. With Phantom of the Opera, I found it engaging from the get go and it probably has ruined my attempts to read the LaRoux novel. We all know the storyline of the Phantom lives beneath the Opera, has a thing for Christine the singer, and will do anything to further her career and win her love. Of course, this will not go well. The film does awesome in conveying the size of the Opera House, making it believable that someone could get away with living in the depths. The big scenes we all expect from a telling of the story such as the chandelier crashing down and the Phantom's unmasking still pack punch. Knowing how much Chaney was in pain with his makeup to pull off the look just adds to the intensity. Even the tinted color segment at the ball when the Phantom shows up dressed as the Red Death is an eyecatcher. It's enough to make me want to pick up working on my Red Death costume. This film was reissued in 1929 to take advantage of the new sound technology and some editing tweaks, but Chaney was unable to contribute as he was terminally ill with cancer. Both editions are a must see and I loving love them both.  6) The Lodger 1926 This one's Hitchcock's 3rd film and his first thriller. While London is in fear of a serial killer, a suspicious young man rents some lodgings in the area. It's pretty much classic Hitch before such a thing could be said so anyone here can guess how the film's going to turn out. Many of the Hitchcock hallmarks are here for the first time such as editing choices, cinematography options and plot twists. One of the big scenes is watching the lodger pace his room from beneath him. It doesn't have the refinement we come to expect from a Hitchcock film especially with the ending, but it's easy to see the ideas he was kicking around and would develop as the years go on. Another observance I had which I'd love to know if anyone else sees it too, but there does seem a bit of jarring between Hitchcock's direction and the actors performance. They seem to be hamming it up a bit much for a silent film of the era. I wonder if as I mentioned in my previous review that with how much silent film's rooted in stage theater sensibilities that with Hitchcock's envisioning a new style of direction that just doesn't mesh too well and highlights the weaknesses in both?
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Sep 16, 2018 15:33
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 Silent film love in the thread! That unmasking scene in Phantom is so fantastic that it's a shame that it's kind of embedded in pop culture so deeply. Magnificently staged, incredible reveal, and copied and played out of context endlessly because it is so good. The Red Death scene is probably the biggest surprise for modern viewers who haven't seen the movie before. I knew that there was a color sequence in the movie before I watched it, but it had slipped my mind while watching. I haven't watched The Lodger in almost twenty years and so I barely remember it. Maybe I'll give it a rewatch this month.
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Sep 16, 2018 15:54
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 The Old Dark House(1932) After the success of Frankenstein, the studio saw Karloff as the next Lon Chaney and marketed The Old Dark House with that in mind. Karloff was sold as a chameleon, the audience would be astounded that the person under the makeup of the mad butler was none other than Frankenstein's monster himself! It's interesting then, to watch the film and see how little acting Karloff was actually allowed to do. It was a bit disappointing actually, I was hoping for a more emotional performance but aside from a last minute twist his character is mostly one-note. So the film did turn out to be very entertaining, just not in the way I was expecting. Mostly because of a solid ensemble cast and a light tone that makes The Old Dark House more of a horror/comedy than other Whale films I've seen. I had no idea Charles Laughton was in the movie, and he's always a welcome presence. He steals most every scene he's in. Ernest Thesiger, of Dr. Pretorius fame, is also here which is great because I'd never seen him in anything other than Bride of Frankenstein. The plot involves a group of people trapped inside the mysterious house during a storm, and their efforts to keep Karloff's alcoholic, super-strong, mute butler under control. But maybe he's not the scariest thing in the house.....  The Bride of Frankenstein(1935) Obviously a film about which many, many words have been written, even just in this Challenge over the years. The emotional power that it still has is amazing, by giving Karloff more freedom within the character Whale was able to make a much deeper monster movie that seems to give you something new every time you watch it. Alienation, friendship, sexuality, the act of creation itself; Bride of Frankenstein is THE quintessential monster movie, the one they've all drawn from much moreso than any other. All the technical aspects are amped up compared to Frankenstein, the sets, lighting, cinematography, even Karloff's makeup. Not that everyone agrees with me there, some prefer the original makeup but I've always loved this battle damaged version. To sum up:  Total: 1. Frankenstein(1931) 2. The Old Dark House(1932) 3. The Bride of Frankenstein(1935) Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 16:10
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1. Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story (2015) So this is from the team that brought us the web series, which is something I was into for the first season but didn’t bother going beyond that. Like the web series this is a found footage movie about the Slender Man. Our story is about a 3 person news crew who discover a box of tapes in a repossessed house. They discover the disappearance of a family through these tapes and notice that Slender Man appears on them. Slender Man then proceeds to stalk the news crew. This turned out to be a pretty dull film. It’s not terrible or anything, but it just seems like a retread of superior films, most notable the Paranormal Activity series and Sinister. It really reminded me of Sinister, which used found footage much more creatively. And that may be the biggest problem this movie faces. It’s not too creative in its format. It’s just the standard film where someone is filming everything in their life for reasons not really adequately explained. It was a novelty in the FF genre at first but by 2015 I’d expect a bit more. Slender man himself does not come off as an especially intimidating presence in this either. He’s a little too well done, and the ambiguity of the original web series and SA photoshops.
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Sep 16, 2018 16:35
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Man you guys are watching some seriously interesting stuff. This thread is already awesome.
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Sep 16, 2018 17:13
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Spatulater bro! posted:Man you guys are watching some seriously interesting stuff. This thread is already awesome. Not only that, but I'm also impressed with how many a few goons have already watched. Plenty of great stuff so far!
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Sep 16, 2018 17:26
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 4. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) This movie is a ton of fun. Japan is experiencing some craziness in the forms of extreme heat in winter, encephalitis outbreaks, and meteor showers. A princess is possessed by an alien entity from Venus, turning her into a prophet barking about the Earth's impending destruction. The princess has no memory of her royal past and is being hunted by criminals that want to take her throne. Our heroes, reporter Shindo and detective Shindo must work together to protect the princess. Meanwhile, one of the meteors mentioned earlier causes volcanic gases to awaken Rodan. Rodan drops Godzilla crotch first onto an electricity tower, which doesn't make him too happy. While Rodan and Godzilla are bickering the other meteor awakens into King Ghidorah, the alien monster responsible for destroying the alien civilization on Venus. Mothra joins the fray to convince Zilla and Dan to help her destroy Ghidorah in order to protect the Earth. I really enjoyed both the human stories and the monster battle royale. Both subplots work well to keep the story moving forward, and it never felt stale. This seems to be a jumping off point for the series, introducing telepathic aliens, 4 monsters on screen, and Godzilla being a heroic figure. My favorite parts of these movies has always been insanity so this one was right up my alley. CRAYON fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 17:33
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M_Sinistrari posted:
Did you happen to see it on Blu-ray? I've got the Masters of Cinema release and it looks gorgeous, especially the color scenes. Speaking of that, it kinda blows my mind to think that Technicolor was a thing in 1925.
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Sep 16, 2018 17:44
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Day -15 - A Chinese Ghost Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIDCU467dCA So my DVD for my first rewatch pick for today was dead. It's disappointing, but I purchased it literally twenty years ago and as a DVD from the first round of DVD's ever published it also isn't really surprising. So back up plan: one of the first Hong Kong action films I ever saw. A Chinese Ghost Story was one of those movies that got mentioned in the early 90's as an example of the great movies being made in Hong Kong, but I don't see a lot of talk about it lately. That's a shame since this is a beautiful movie and a charming fairy tale. An unlucky, impoverished tax collector is directed by the townspeople to stay at a ruined temple where men have been mysteriously dying. The temple is occupied by a Taoist warrior who is avoiding the world and tries to drive the tax collector away. That night the collector follows music to a woman who attempts to seduce him, but he's both clumsy and too much of a nice guy to go for it. He carries her This is such an oddly good looking moving. Oh, you can see the seams in the production with the almost complete lack of genuine exteriors, dodgy make up, and heavy reliance on a fog machine, but then there's there's perfect shots that take advantage of their limited scope and lighting. It's often in the movement; if you want a movie about ethereally flowing fabric, then this is the one for you. The film is also visually inspired by Evil Dead. There's Evil PoV shots with things blowing out of the way, slapstick with monsters, and there's a monster tree that gets around. At the same time, though, this isn't a rip-off. It feels more like someone saw Evil Dead and went, "Oh, that's how we can make something that looks interesting on no budget at all." Hong Kong films from the era can suffer badly from mood whiplash as comedic moments collide head on with serious ones. In A Chinese Ghost Story, I feel like the comedy generally lands and then because the romantic lead is a lovable doofus it can carry directly into the next beat. There's a scene in the middle of the film, probably the best scene in the movie, where he's hiding in her bath while other ghosts are there. You get screwball antics for a few minutes and then as he has to come up for air, she pushes him back underwater with a passionate kiss. There are two sequels and two remakes of the film. One of the remakes is animated! I haven't seen any of them. A Chinese Ghost Story ends so conclusively that I didn't want to see any sequels, even if they were just sequels in name only. As for the remake, the fact that it came out in 2011 and I don't remember hearing anything about it doesn't bode well. Maybe I'll check out one of those movies in October if I can dig them up.
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Sep 16, 2018 20:47
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Spatulater bro! posted:Did you happen to see it on Blu-ray? I've got the Masters of Cinema release and it looks gorgeous, especially the color scenes. That's on my list of purchases to make after I pay down some stuff. Part of why I love early films is some of the stuff they were experimenting with back then. A lot of things we're more familiar with in later era films were possible earlier but suffered from either being deemed too costly or just people fumbling with the learning curve of the new tech.
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Sep 16, 2018 20:52
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Random Stranger posted:Day -15 - A Chinese Ghost Story This looks totally my poo poo. HK horror is operating on a different plane.
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Sep 16, 2018 21:01
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6) Rampage 2018 So this is actually kind of surprisingly cheesy and good. It's about the best adaptation you could make based on a video game from 1980s. As always Dwayne Johnson plays sensitive but hyper masculine man who is kept alive by his sheer masculinity and all of the other men in the film are cowed into submission by his sheer manness. The plot is disregard-able but what everyone here for is 3 monsters fighting it out in Chicago and the movie does not disappoint. With a big giant finale where Chicago get's destroyed by the monsters. Also lots of people die gruesomely for a PG 13 film with one specific gruesome death played for laughs. If you like giant monster movies then you'll like this. /5 
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Sep 16, 2018 21:04
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