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 Spring break has come and gone. It's almost time to start planning for the kids to go to Sleepaway Camp. Which means we're half-way to Goals & Rules This challenge is more relaxed than its October counterpart. The only requirement is to watch a horror movie and then write about it. You can write a review, a list of thoughts you had while watching it, an analysis, essay or interpretation. The whole intention of this thread is to share what we're watching and our thoughts about it. The most common goal among participants is 13 movies throughout May, but there is no mandatory amount of films. You can participate with as much or as little enthusiasm as you want. You can create any goals for yourself if you want. A lot of us choose to use the May challenge to catch up on movies that have been released since October, or that we missed last year, or some gaps in our watch history. You can use the challenge to watch all the films of a horror director, or an entire horror series you've been interested in or would like to rewatch. You can concentrate on specific sub-genres like Creature Features or Giallos or Hammer produced films. Or you can just randomly pick whatever you want. If you are working from a Letterboxd list, feel free to share it. You can always ask for a wildcard or recommendation. The Horror Thread has a Discord where group watches of horror movies are regularly scheduled https://twitter.com/HalloweenCounts/status/1122351259363758081
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Apr 28, 2019 16:56
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| # ? May 5, 2024 22:36 |
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 FAQS & Resources Here LISTS Horror Thread's Staff Picks 25 Highest Rated Horror Movies (2018) They Shoot Zombies, Don't They? Top 1,000 Horror Movies (2018 edition) Edgar Wright's 100 Favorite Horror Movies Slant's Top 100 Horror Films IndieWire's 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time Films mentioned in Carol J. Clover’s Men, Women & Chainsaws Horror Films Directed By Women Horror Movies by Gay Directors 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 20:25 on May 1, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 16:57
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I'll go for 13 movies again, and I pledge to make at least 10 of them Giallos.
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Apr 28, 2019 17:01
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At the bare minimum, I plan to finish the last seven movies I have left from Slant's Top 100 Horror Movies. Other than that, I'll just pick flicks at random.
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Apr 28, 2019 17:09
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I will watch 13 horror movies I haven't seen before.
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Apr 28, 2019 17:10
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I'll go for 13 I ain't seen on Netflix.
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Apr 28, 2019 17:11
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In for 13.
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Apr 28, 2019 17:12
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Finally getting around to last year's big names. Started with (1) - A Quiet Place and I was really impressed by all the ingenuity that went into masking sounds by the family. the box with O2 for the newborn was great, but really a baby of any kind would be instant death. double for toddlers since they just go nuclear at a pin drop.. The monster design was ok, their weird articulated heads were awesome but did no one seriously try sonic warfare? or notice their heads open and reveal soft bits?. Otherwise, the family unit was great, bringing in a hard of hearing actress was great. Dunno if I like or am eh about the quiet theme wrapping around to the fam avoiding speaking about the young death. But it's a tight 90 minutes through and through. Definitely something I'd throw into the mix for Halloween season. FilthyImp fucked around with this message at 17:10 on May 1, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 17:17
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I'm going to aim for a minimum of 15 films I've not seen before.
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Apr 28, 2019 17:18
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I'll shoot for 13.
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Apr 28, 2019 18:36
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I'm planning to watch all the They Shoot Zombies top 100 films I haven't seen yet. According to Letterboxd, that's exactly 13 entries, though I may just keep going with the list afterwards. Edit: 14 actually. I forgot about Martyrs. Samuel Clemens fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Apr 29, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 18:41
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Put me down for 13 that are new to me.
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Apr 28, 2019 19:27
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I’m gonna do 15. I have no real plans other than watching some Adam Green and Joe Lynch due to listening to their podcast all the time, and some Argento flicks.
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Apr 28, 2019 19:53
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Im doing a mystery number because I can't count
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Apr 28, 2019 19:56
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Here's my list: https://letterboxd.com/gnonn/list/mai/
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Apr 28, 2019 20:02
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I'm in for 13. I don't have a list really but many of them will come from my Letterboxd watchlist: https://letterboxd.com/daveski/watchlist/
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Apr 28, 2019 20:34
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I am excited, but for the first time in a couple of years I'm not gonna follow any kind of rules or guidelines. I've been so regimented with the "31 Years of Horror" stuff the last couple of Octobers and I've loved it and plan to "finish" it this October, but it means a whole ton of random movies I've wanted to watch have just stayed unwatched because I didn't find the time and they didn't fit a guideline. I got a MASSIVE list of 70+ movies that have drawn my interest so I'm just gonna spend May picking movies off the list and trying to whittle it down. That and working through Friday the 13th because I promised Lurdiak I'd finish it this year. But I've been really in the mood for horror the last week or so and since the main thread brought up a bunch of movies I had seen once or hadn't seen in awhile I decided to do a "I Wonder How This Holds Up" mini marathon to warm myself up. So here's some mini writeups.  1) World War Z (2013) Available on FX Now. Brad Pitt attempts to protect his family from a FAST zombie rising and goes on a globe trotting adventure to discover the source of the outbreak and a possible cure. I commented in the main thread but basically while its not as bad as I remember its still a deeply flawed movie including but not limited to bad CGI and wide angle shooting that made everything feel very fake and a confused idea of how to convert the source text into an action movie and how to resolve that conversion in a satisfying way. Its strength is as a very familiar and digestible action adventure film and the handful of close in zombie action scenes are the moments it feels truly like a horror. All in all its watchable, especially if you enjoy the profilic leading man action adventure formula but as a horror its an ambitious but very flawed strikeout.  2) As Above, So Below (2014) Available on Netflix. Scarlett brings a small team and documentarian on an exploration of the Paris’ Catacombs as she searches for the archeological obsession of her and her father’s lives leaded her deeper and deeper underground on a Dante inspired journey that tests their wits, courage, and character. Every time I watch this film it cements itself more and more as one my absolute favorite modern horrors as I notice little shots and sounds or they have the same impact with me on rewatches. I think it gets a big bump by me because I also happen to be claustrophobic and one of the worst experiences of my life was a harmless visit to the Howe Caverns, an underground cave tourist attraction in New York. But plenty others hold it as one of the best found footage films or “the best Lara Croft or a pretty good Indiana Jones film” and I can’t disagree with that. Watch it and love it as much as I do.  3) The Cabin in the Woods (2011) Watched on DVD. A group of one dimensional teens visit a cabin and do things typical of classic ‘80s and ‘90s horror films as Joss Whedon flips things to send up the tropes for a very not subtle callout of horror films and its viewers. I hate this film for all the reasons people say. Unlike Scream or other meta horror films Whedon doesn’t actually seem to like the thing he’s critiquing and the whole film feels less like a fun sendup and more of a self satisfied callout. Its also like 2 decades late to be especially relevant or inspired. The spoof parts are genuinely cringeworthy and difficult to watch and while the twist idea is cute it just feels like an idea Whedon formed when he was watching horror films in his teens and then made a movie about it in his 30s without ever revisiting the subject in between. I think a waste of time for big time horror fans but probably enjoyable for a lot of casual or non-horror fans.  4) The Last Exorcism (2010) Available on Hoopla and Vudu. A charlatan evangelical pastor has a crisis of conscience and faith and decides to expose himself and his entire industry of exorcisms as frauds with the help of a documentary crew, but the last case he takes to expose the superstition and tricks behind it all ends up getting out of his control and testing his resolve about the right thing to do. I loved this when I first saw it and have been meaning to revisit it, but it didn’t totally hold up. I still enjoyed it. I think Patrick Fabian puts in a strong performance as a guy we COULD hate very easily for being a con man and a sleaze but who I kind of liked as someone who genuinely wants to be better. The whole story is a nice low key mood piece that builds in intensity quickly but very naturally. The actual exorcism stuff and Ashley Bell’s performance were less than I remember them being though and didn’t hit as much as I remember. I still think its a pretty good film though and it might make my top 10 of found footage films or something like that.  5) Trollhunter (2010) Available on Hoopla, TubiTV, and PlutoTV. For some reason the film doesn’t really attempt to explain some Norweigan students are making a film tracking a mysterious bear poacher, but when they find him they find out the truth that he’s a government worker assigned to hunt trolls and they end up with a way more interesting movie to make. I guess bear poaching might be a sexier issue in Norway? The big thing I remember when i first saw this was that I didn’t expect it to be able to deliver the idea seriously without being silly and I was shocked that did it so well. Apparently there’s a bunch of known Norwegian comedians in the film and there’s definitely some dark comedy in there but it follows the pattern and theming of every “lost in the woods” found footage film since Blair Witch Project and delivers. Some people seem to feel this is a fantasy film and not a horror, but I find that kind of arbitrary. If the monster wasn’t something largely associated with Tolkein I don’t think there’d be any question that it’s a horror film. Sure, its not the scariest but I think its a pretty straight formula familiar to the genre done well. Given the uniqueness of the Trolls I think its probably another one that ranks somewhere in my top 10 of found footage horrors. Definitely worth checking out.  6) Blair Witch Project (1999) Available on Showtime Anytime. The OG found footage film about a small makeshift camera crew that heads to the woods to investigate an urban legend about an evil witch, and end up getting lost, paranoid, and scared creating a tense, disorientating nightmare. I kept talking about “top 10 found footage films” and comparing them to this that I felt like it was time to revisit what I will always consider to be THE found footage horror film. It is hard to imagine a time when the internet was still shaky and there was no Google or Wikipedia and finding out an answer as simple as “are these people actually actors?” was actually a challenge. I never really believed it was real because I don’t really believe in witches, but the viral marketing for the film back 20 years ago really was memorably unique and something brand new and exciting. And I remember watching the film many times in dark rooms with different people and having them scream and bail. I think it still holds up as much as its been copied and parodied in the decades since although there's definitely less impact and it suffers from the same problem all "trailblazing" films do that the stuff that was kind of new and different are now tired and worn tropes. Still probably best enjoyed with the lights off, the volume up way high, and a room full of screamers.  7) Unfriended (2014) Available on FX Now. A group of really lovely teenagers are terrorized online by a mysterious haunting Skype caller claiming to be their classmate who killed herself after being cyberbullied. I really like the idea of this, taking the found footage genre in this kind of direction with the many, many windows open through modern computing and social media. That being said idea and execution are two different things and somewhere during the process someone should have probably wondered if spending 10 minutes watching teenagers try to navigate Facebook terms and services was good viewing. Things eventually heat up but then the movie kind of cheats out by conveniently cutting away whenever it comes to wrestling with the whole “How DOES a ghost kill someone from the internet?” question. I guess the last problem I had was did the kids have to be SUCH assholes? I mean, you didn’t really have to have me thinking “Yeah, I can see the homicidal ghost’s side of things.” I mostly rewatched this because everyone seems to like the sequel so I’m planning to give it a look in May. From the sounds of it that’s a better example of the interesting idea unless you just REALLY want to see some teenagers push the limits of how lovely they can be before you start rooting for them to die and then be cyberbullied afterwards. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 21:31
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Don't have time to fully react and comment but I wanted to say I highly appreciate you noting the streaming options for the movies you're reviewing
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Apr 28, 2019 21:36
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I'm gonna make things slightly harder for myself. I will watch 13 horror movies I've never seen, but limited to movies I can get on physical media at a local brick and mortar store. And I'm gonna aim for mostly movies which I had never heard of before I saw them in the store.
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Apr 28, 2019 21:40
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In light of what I learned from doing the October Ironman, I've hopefully figured on some not so insane movie counts for the May Ironman. It's definitely more sane than my original idea of 13 franchises (movies + games + comics + books). I'm tentatively calling this one BandMania, Band-o-Rama, or Band-olicious. I'll be selecting from any of the Empire/Full Moon/Moonbeam...etc films that had at least one of the Band family involved in any manner. I will be avoiding any repeats from the October Ironman and my goal is minimum 2 films a day with a max of 4, and I won't stop until the official time is called. I'm going to aim for films I've not seen before but not standing hard to that rule because I love Ghoulies too drat much. And since it likely would be asked, yes Evil Bong will be one of the ones I watch/review.
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Apr 28, 2019 21:47
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Not sure how many I'll get, but I'm going to watch some horror flicks with a baby sleeping my arms this month!
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Apr 28, 2019 22:03
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MacheteZombie posted:Not sure how many I'll get, but I'm going to watch some horror flicks with a baby sleeping my arms this month! Never too early to start the little ones on horror films.
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Apr 28, 2019 22:05
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Brainstorming best flicks for toddlers/parents: Braindead, Basket Case, ??? Also is the challenge on already? I was gonna wait until may but theres some stuff leaving Prime
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Apr 28, 2019 22:13
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It always starts a little early because some people get enthusiastic and others can't commit to availability all through the month. I commit to watch at least one horror movie and also Excalibur, which almost counts. Also the only good thing with a Silver Shamrock countdown is Buckethead's album series.
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Apr 28, 2019 22:28
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This sounds like fun. I'm in for 13.
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Apr 29, 2019 00:39
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I will set my goal at 18. And I’m actually gonna finish this time god drat it.
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Apr 29, 2019 04:41
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I'm in, going for 13 here but if I can get more in I will do an overrun of that number. I mean, last October I pounded out 44 movies so 13+ should be more than simple.
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Apr 29, 2019 05:52
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I'm in for 13 at minimum.
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Apr 29, 2019 06:02
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The Vanishing, aka ‘Spoorloos’ 1988 | dir. George Sluizer | Netherlands , France The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, Criterion Collection | Amazon Prime rental #88 on Slant's Top 100 Horror  A young couple go on a bicycling vacation through France. When they stop at a local gas station, the woman goes missing. Over the next few years, he obsesses over finding answers for why his partner went missing. It is inevitable with these challenges to ask what qualifies as a 'horror' film. This film sits within the top 100 films on most Greatest Horror Movie lists. When the film ends, when all the answers have been exposed, it is firmly a horror film, but the majority of the journey is a thriller, like many of Tourneur's horror films that populate the list and the popular Night of the Hunter. The film has a slow, haunting pace. At it's core, it is a mystery. We see Rex and Saskia on their trip. We know from the title that someone is going to go missing. The film uses that knowledge to create a sense of dread through-out the first act. Our eyes dart around the crowds that surround them, the suspicious people parked besides them, any clue the belies some of the hidden terror about to unfold. And when Saskia goes missing, again our eyes search for any clues, any details out of place. Maybe we can spot Saskia being dragged into a car in the background among the extras? Maybe there is a stray shoe lying somewhere? Did she leave a clue by some vending machines? Stanley Kubrick was a vocal fan of this film, having seen it over a dozen times and claiming it's one of the most horrific films he's seen. Sluizer joked with him "What about The Shining? I mean, that movies terrifying!" Kubrick responded "Yes, but the fears in your film are REAL!" It's not only the fear of being kidnapped, or having a loved one stolen from you. The fears run deeply existential in this film. Through Rex, we see that there is hopelessness and impotence in not being allowed the truth, when it's all we want. And what if the truth somehow destroys us? The film does not allow us to only experience Rex's loss and his search for truth. Thankfully, it is willing to disturb us with the other character, arguably the main character, Raymond Lemorne. He is a husband and father; a family man. He is a teacher, his subject Chemistry. He is strong, healthy, charismatic, and intelligent. At one point, his oldest daughter, full of love, embraces her father and announces, "You're a hero!" This is a defining moment for Raymond, we hear him explain later. "My daughter was bursting with pride. But I thought that her admiration wasn't worth anything unless I could prove myself absolutely incapable of doing anything evil. And as black cannot exist without white, I logically conceived the most horrible deed that I could envision right at that moment. But I want you to know, for me killing is not the worst thing." Human experience is not only at our control, at our toying with our own existence. Some of the greatest tragedies have happened at random. This too, is a fear played with in the film."The best plans can be wiped out at any moment by what we call fate," says Rex. "I confess, that saddens me." This movie is wonderfully gripping. The cinematography is wonderful. The minimal electronic score is perfect. The actors are amazing. It's a remarkable film, through and through. It's dreadful in it's melancholy. Highly Recommended Total: 1 The Vanishing
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Apr 29, 2019 13:09
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I'm traveling abroad twice and will only be back to fight the army of contractors in my house while the missus is gone, May is gonna be rough. So.....I will try to watch 5 movies and not feel too ashamed.
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Apr 29, 2019 13:52
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https://twitter.com/HalloweenCounts/status/1122712295954624512
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Apr 29, 2019 14:09
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Spoorloos is so good, from the beginning scene in the tunnel to the characterization of the protagonists all to the 100% horror ending. It's free on Kanopy but I'm not sure if that depends on your local library access.
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Apr 29, 2019 14:11
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I guess we're starting already on this? 1) Talisman - 1998 - TubiTV I used to have a VHS screener of this one but I honestly don't remember ever sitting through it. It was probably on my 'stuff I need to watch shelf' since even before the days of streaming and watchlists, I've always had a stack of movies and books I needed to work my way through on. The premise for Talisman's pretty basic. Weird poo poo happens at a European boarding school for boys. It's a fairly common subgenre which is open to a ton of potential, but with Talisman, it feels more going by rote. The talisman in question's a nice design with a pentagram combined with an inverted cross that has an adorable little gargoyle/demon thing on it. Acting's okay for what it is, no one's really bad but more just rolling along with what script they had. Notable is Walter Emanuel Jones in this, likely trying to prove he's capable of being more than one of the original Power Rangers. It feels like they really didn't bother to fully run with the premise possibilities. I don't consider this one bad or good, but it's fine to have on for background noise.  2) Castle Freak - 1995 - DVD First time I was told that this one was based off the Lovecraft story, The Outsider, I said they were full of poo poo. Only thing this has in common with the story is there's a castle with a disfigured person in it. It's so loosely based on the story that if this was a pair of sweatpants, anyone would be able to depants themselves with a good sneeze. Premise is a family still reeling from a tragedy that resulted in the death of their son inherits a castle in Italy that already has a secret resident. Ah, what's left to say about this one with all that's been said already in the main thread? I'm okay with movies that are pretty much just the title is the only thing in common with the previous written work, thank you Roger Corman. Compared to all the other Lovecraft adaptions by Band/Gordon, this really stands out the odd one in it's barely matching theme-atically to the work it's based on. I was thrown off by the cat death which really didn't need to be there and the rest just isn't up to the standards one would expect from Stuart Gordon and Charles Band. Jeffrey Coombs and Barbara Crampton do incredibly well with the script they've got which is a testament to how good actors they are. I consider this completely skippable on the scale of things, even if you're a completionist with wanting to sit through anything Empire/Full Moon. Only reason I have a copy of it is it was included in a box set.
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Apr 29, 2019 14:50
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 Evil Bong Well, as a disclaimer let me say that I'm sure this will include a mix of both poser and non-poser opinions. Apologies in advance. I'm setting my goal at 25 movies, with only new-to-me movies counting for the final tally, although I'll probably mix in a few rewatches as well. While I will always respect Charles Band as a creative mind, I still like to watch his stuff when I'm in a certain mood. I knew the budget was going to be low, and that I'd be lucky to get one or two decent actors in the cast. Well, that turned out to be very true of Evil Bong, but what I was looking for was 90 minutes of dumb fun and that's what I got. My main regret is that I'm not really a Full Moon expert, and so I could tell that some references were flying by that I just wasn't catching, and I imagine that probably adds another fun element to the movie. The true horror presented in this movie is the life of three assholes cooped up in a small dingy apartment. I've been forced to live in circumstances like that before with very little privacy and space of my own and for anyone who isn't stuck in early 20s college dorm mindset it's absolute hell. If I were sucked into the Lament Configuration by Cenobites my personal hell would be to have to rent a room in the apartment from Evil Bong. Otherwise though, this is a pretty straight comedy where the "kills" are pretty tame and you're never really asked to care much about any of the characters aside from the protagonist. I have to say, the wiki article for Evil Bong is very accurate when it describes Chong's entrance as "....randomly enters the room" , because that's exactly what happens. One minute I was wondering when Chong was going to show up, then all of the sudden he's just there in the apartment providing exposition. Wow, this script is lean and mean! Complaints(i.e. the poser section of the write-up): - I did not really like the voice of the Evil Bong, I think something more classically horror would've worked better. A Vincent Price impersonator or something, I dunno. - I know I mentioned expecting a low budget, but this one is really cheap even for Charles Band. Probably the cheapest that I've seen from Full Moon, but again, I haven't seen a ton - Not enough Chong. He needed to be introduced about halfway through instead of three-quarters All in all though, I had fun watching Evil Bong. Like I said, the mood was right, I'd just come back from watching 3 hours of BIG EPIC SUPERHERO EPIC SPECTACLE EPIC ULTIMATE BATTLE and really was looking for something simple, stupid, but fun. Band delivers again. Watched: 1. Evil Bong
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Apr 29, 2019 15:39
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After a trip to Half Price Books, I have 8 out of my 13 movies ready to go! Aside from Return of the Living Dead, I had never heard of any of these movies before I saw them at the store.
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Apr 29, 2019 16:52
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If you've never seen Return of the Living Dead before you're in for a treat.
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Apr 29, 2019 17:15
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1. Escape Room - about as average as they come. Some neat setpieces ultimately let down by a weak script. The last ten minutes felt completely unnecessary. That said, this would be a neat franchise to see more of. 2.5/5
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Apr 29, 2019 17:17
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Basebf555 posted:If you've never seen Return of the Living Dead before you're in for a treat. I haven't, but I've heard lots of good things. I'm excited for that and seeing the quality drop when Christopher Walken leaves the Prophecy series
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Apr 29, 2019 17:23
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That exact same Prophecy set is sitting on underneath my to be part of this Mays journey, so cheers. At least we'll suffer together.
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Apr 29, 2019 20:14
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| # ? May 5, 2024 22:36 |
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One of my closest friends sent me this out of the blue a week ago. A few of these movies I've never seen, so for May I will commit to watching and writing up all eight of these: (I don't want to commit myself to anything beyond this, simply because my headaches and vision are really bad some days, requiring me to minimize screen time. gently caress cancer, but especially brain cancer.)
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Apr 29, 2019 20:16
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