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This go, I'm aiming to do just 13. Needless to say, I'll probably doing more than that. Mostly I'm long term planning for October's go to be the all out extravaganza. Since today's a long one for work, I'll start tomorrow.
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Apr 30, 2022 18:54
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 1) After Midnight - 2019 - Shudder Best I can sum up my feelings after watching this is 'Yeah...whelp.' I really did want to like this one as much as several of my friends did. The cinematography was good, the actors were good, the effects were good. The monster design was really nice. But the film assemblage...just didn't work for me. Storyline is Hank and Abby have from what we see is a contented relationship until she suddenly disappears for several weeks leaving behind a note that says 'I had to leave, I'm sorry'. While she's gone, a mysterious creature starts clawing at the door and no one believes Hank about it. One would think with that set up there'd be a solid horror film here, but instead it had me more thinking 'Jesus tap dancing Christ on a crutch would it kill people in a relationship to actually loving TALK with each other' than getting drawn into wondering was the monster all in Hank's head, was the monster Abby, or was it some local legend come to life. I even would've taken the monster was a psychic manifestation of a crumbling relationship. What we get is relationship drama with a splash of 'oh, here's a monster'. It made me think of Beatrix Potter's Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit where after going on with the good and bad rabbits, there's a sudden 'This is a man with a gun' pops out of the blue. Instead it's a load of 'stuff that if they actually talked over during the ten or so years they're together' would've cut the film down from its 83 minute runtime unless they did more with the horror aspects. If I want to watch relationship drama where two people might be growing apart, I can go look on my Facebook to see what drama's going on amongst my friends. At least with that, there's no animal death and I have some forewarning that someone's going to end up at my place on the couch. Overall, I wouldn't say it was horrible or a waste of viewing time, but it just didn't work for me as a horror film.
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May 2, 2022 03:51
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 2) Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched - 2021 - Shudder This one can be summed up as "Oof..", and I mean that in a good way. It's something like 3+ hours long and goes into drat near everything in the folk horror genre. It's definitely not a casual watch for someone looking for a basic overview, but more aimed at the longtime horror movie watcher. Hopefully that doesn't discourage others from seeing this, but more prepares them in advance that it might help to just watch segments with taking a moment or two to mentally digest it all before moving on. Perhaps covering this as a miniseries would've worked better for a deep dive this deep. Overall, I consider this one a 'Must Watch' like I do with Horror Noire in that it will give you a good foundation for the respective genre knowledge. However both do share that aspect of while making incredibly good points for the most part, there are bits that do come across as 'you're stretching there'. Explain for as long as you want, even going into using words of one syllable and it's just not going to make me see something like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Wild Bunch as folk horror or folk horror adjacent. This probably stems from my perspective for folk horror is that involves connections/traditions that are often old to the degree there is no explanation for them beyond they simply 'are' and they will always exist no matter how much the modern era obfuscates or forgets. Blame how many history courses and legends/mythology classes I've taken for my definition of old. Of course going by my definition does mean just because witches are involved, it doesn't make it folk horror. My definition is what it is and part of the delightful debate and discussion we thrive on when talking movies. In short, highly recommend this documentary. As it is, it added more film to my ever growing watchlists.
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May 3, 2022 14:09
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1. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 3) Titane - 2021 - Hulu I likely would've skipped over this one but after all the raves in the main thread, I figured I'll eventually give it a watch. In light of my growing problem with the assorted challenges of finding something that fits the criteria along with being something new to me in that I've watched so much stuff, I will eventually hit the point where I can't do the challenge because I've already seen what's out there. So, I moved this one up on the priority viewing since it fits the challenge and I haven't sat through it yet. Having sat through it, it just didn't work for me. I know it's won awards and it's definitely one I'll recommend to certain people I know who will be certain to adore it, but as far as I go, just wasn't my cuppa. The cast was fine, storyline's okay, and I've liked what I've seen of the other work the director's done. Overall, film's put together fine, but mostly I was just 'okay...and okay' as I sat through it. I don't regret sitting through it, and if there was a specialty showing of it at my work, I'd go see it on the big screen because, well, big screen reasons. But for the most part I'm left just with 'okay, I sat through it'.
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May 4, 2022 22:57
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2. Scream, Queen!
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I'm still in the process of trying to find something Stephen King I haven't sat through yet. Would Rose Red count as a mini series or a movie since while it originally aired as a mini series, I believe it was home released edited to a movie?
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May 5, 2022 08:15
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Today is catch up day since I've been working the majority of Dr. Strange opening weekend. We're seeing fully packed theaters, even the wheelchair spots. gey muckle mowser posted:
 4) The House with a Clock in its Walls - 2018 - Prime When I first saw the trailer, my takeaway was "Eli Roth is doing a kid's film?" Having finally sat through it, I'm "Well, Eli Roth did a kid's film." It makes me think of something my Mom said about at some point a creator/entertainer's going to want to make something their kids or grandkids'll be able to watch. I had no idea this was based on a kid's book before the trailer and I am curious enough to pick up a copy at some point. The movie is a perfectly fine kid's film. The effects range from pretty good to "Good God Awful". The 'de-aged' Jack Black is deep in the latter category. I liked the concept of a warlock so traumatized by the horrors of war that they want to get rid of humanity. It brings to mind Ivo Shandor from Ghostbusters. The rest is exactly what one would expect from this subgenre of film, nothing particularly standout, but nothing particularly eye rollingly awful either that you find yourself turning it off and putting something else on. Overall, I liked this one, flaws and all. It'll fit in fine with a Goosebumps and/or Harry Potter marathon.
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May 8, 2022 17:26
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3. Rated PG
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Shaman Tank Spec posted:
I'd say yes since A) you didn't sit through much of it, and B) it's been a very long time since you did sit through that little bit.
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May 8, 2022 22:05
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 5) Stage Fright - 2014 - Prime Truth is, I don't particularly like musicals. Even as a kid, I didn't like musicals. Closest I could do was animated Disney films. That said, I do count Phantom of the Paradise and Little Shop of Horrors as my top faves. Storyline for this is a Broadway singer is murdered after her opening night performance, and then it skips to ten years later where the murdered singer's kids now work at a musical theater summer camp run by her former lover. Once the singer's daughter manages to get into the musical the camp will be putting on, bodies start turning up. As a plot outline, this is a slasher classic. As a musical, ehh. Still, I was determined to give this an honest shot. From the first joke of stating 'the musical numbers will be performed in order' had me thinking this could still go either way as to if I liked it or not, but slightly leaning towards not since it likely would be more aiming to the theater kids crowd. As the film went on, yeah, at most the humor had me smirking, but to someone from the theater crowd, this was probably hilarious. The songs were okay-ish, but just didn't have that 'zing' that other musicals I like have. Even though it's been a while since I've sat through them, I can still sing 'The Hell of It' from Phantom of the Paradise, or 'Suddenly Seymour' from Little Shop, or even 'Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul' from Rocky Horror. Here, none of the songs felt particularly memorable like that. The actors were okay, the effects were decent, but the rest..whelp. Pretty much I file this one under 'I am not in the audience demographic they were aiming for', and that's okay.
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May 8, 2022 23:20
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4. Music of the Night
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 6) Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson - 2019 - Shudder Watch enough drive in or grindhouse cinema and you'll eventually be watching an Al Adamson film. I think the first one I saw was Dracula vs Frankenstein, and it was on Son of Svengoolie in the afternoon. I think I've pretty near sat through all of Adamson's horror offerings at this point. This documentary covers Al warts and all, as well as his murder at the hands of his live in handyman who will be up for parole in 2024. I was a bit impressed with how many people they were able to interview. Surprisingly enough, I did learn a few new things about Adamson while watching this and if you've sat through some of his films, I recommend sitting through this one.
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May 9, 2022 05:38
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5. Behind the Screams
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 7) Death Walks on High Heels - 1971 - TubiTV On the subgenre sliding scale for Giallo, this one leans more to the heist drama end than the pure horror one. Storyline starts with a jewel thief murdered on a train and his daughter's being stalked in the hunt to find the diamonds the thief stole. Well, while this wasn't the worst giallo I've ever sat through, it wasn't particularly good either. There's not many killings in this compared to others, and there is some definite effort in avoiding the usual surreality that tends to crop up in gialli. There's a load of focus on Nicole doing mundane things like dancing and trying on clothes which felt like filler, but reading up a bit, turns out the actress playing her is the director's wife so that explains that. While I don't regret sitting through this, I really can't recommend it unless someone needs to watch something they've not seen yet for a giallo challenge.
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May 11, 2022 05:42
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6. The King in Yellow
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gey muckle mowser posted:
8.a) Astronomer's Dream - 1898 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8SMIiQZUcs Synopsis is an astronomer has strange dreams, including a hungry moon. Pretty much this is what one would expect from Melies's work of the day. The hungry moon's a bit unnerving when it starts eating. 8.b) Pete's Putrid Peas- 2022 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXR3xpejjrk Plot centers around an Instagrammer who goes on a challenge of eating nothing but peas for three weeks. This does not work out well for him. It's pretty impressive how much they were able to pack in with this being a skosh over nine minutes. I guess it's a generational thing, but I don't get Instagram or TikTok. Youtube, I've got the True Crime stuff, cooking history, movie history, short movies, cryptid and mythology stuff. What I see of TikTok and Instagram just doesn't make much sense to me, you get likes and comments but that's it? I don't hear much about a financial benefit unless one shows ads or has a sponsorship, so is it all about the endorphin rush? Pete's definitely addicted to his social media which sets him on a destructive path, but one can't help but think of how this would've played out if he wasn't so addicted. 8.c) Summoning the Spirits - 1899 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilMjSQFQISA Here, a sorcerer shows off by conjuring faces in a wreath. For decades this was considered a lost film since for some reason Melies burnt all his surviving negatives near the end of his life, but a copy was found in 2007 and restored. Again, this is what to expect for films from this era. 8.d) Devil and the Statue - 1901 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F353oY5mM0s Story is the Devil tempts/torments a young woman who gets saved by the Virgin Mary. Despite the basic plot, because of the Devil's wild dance, this was just a fun sit through. 8.e) Life and Death of a Living Dead - 2022 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6yiuFOZKNM I don't get to say this often, but I did NOT see that ending coming. Plot follows a very 'It's Complicated' relationship with a zombie. This one was very good. While there is no dialog, it was still pretty compelling. 8.f) The Monster - 1903 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAnSxaR_fKw Plot follows an Egyptian prince who has a priest ressurrect his lost love. While it doesn't go well, it doesn't go as bad as it usually does in the horror genre. The choice of title's interesting in it's not sure who it applies to. Is it the prince for wanting the ressurrection, the priest for ressurrecting, or the dead for getting ressurrected? This was a nice quick watch. 8.g) The Black Imp - 1905 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USIrSXLHh-0 Story is a demon manifests and is up to mischief. Having sat through so many of these with similiar themes, I have to admit there's a certain charm to them. The Devil or demons are just here to poke fun or have a good time rather than always being malicious and/or murderous. 8.h) The Ice Cream Man - 2020 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdebPS8GEMM In this one, eating a late night ice cream has nightmarish results. Overall, this wasn't bad. It felt like it could be fleshed out into something like a Tales from the Crypt or Monsters episode. 8.i) The Sealed Room - 1909 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7hAYecvKxU Here a nobleman constructs a special private room for him and his wife to have privacy, but when she cheats on him, the room gets a new purpose. This was a pretty decent revenge entry. Apparently it's partially based on Poe's Cask of Amontillado which I haven't read in ages. This had a bit of a modern feel to it with how everything played out. Overall, I liked it. 8.j) ASMR - 2020 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JZvZc15-6Q Storyline is a late night ASMR viewing goes wrong. Add ASMR as another thing I don't quite get, mostly since I have no reaction/response to it. I've watched some, but I get no tinglies, euphoria or relaxing sensations that everyone else feels. Not sure what that says about me, but then I also have an inner monologue while others don't so go figure. This short was okay overall. 8.k) The Mannequin - 2021 - Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dKkLNh58ss This was a pretty by the book creepy mannequin story. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't anything standout either. I think it could be fleshed out more if it was a skosh longer. Overall, I liked it.
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May 11, 2022 22:55
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7. Short Cuts
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 9) Virus: 32 - 2022 - Shudder This one is an Argentina-Uruguay production. While I'm not 100% on if I've seen anything from Argentina, I'm 100% certain I've never seen anything from Uruguay. Despite the basis being the overdone 'trapped in a violent apocalyptic outbreak', this film does manage to pull out some interesting tangents. Story follows Iris who's surprised by her estranged husband to watch their daughter while he has to take an exam. She ends up taking her daughter with her on her overnight security guard job and they're trapped when a viral outbreak turns people into bloodthirsty maniacs. While this sounds like a 28 Days Later knockoff, it is and it isn't. A fair amount of reviews call the Infected zombies but that's about as accurate as it was for 28 Days Later for the most part. Here, the Infected after they attack have a 'cooldown' of 32 seconds which does get utilized for some nicely tense moments. They're also taken down by the same lethal damage anyone else would, but near the end we're given the hints that once they die, they resurrect into proper zombies which I thought was a creative touch. I also particularly liked that the characters were more nuanced than the norm in this subgenre. For example, Iris isn't particularly a good parent, treating her daughter more like a buddy rather than being a Mom and not being a responsible person for the most part, but it's gradually revealed she's like this because of the death of her infant son and hasn't allowed herself to properly mourn because she feels responsible for that death. Through the events she experiences, she's able to finally confront her pain, start healing and acting rather than reacting. I wasn't too big on the animal deaths, but they didn't feel gratuitous like in some other films. Overall, this is definitely worth a watch.
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May 13, 2022 09:02
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8. A Perfect Getaway
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 10) Censor - 2021 - Prime This was not an easy pick since going through Fran's list for me was pretty much "seen it, seen it, seen it, own it, seen it, own it, own it...". Thankfully, I found something and whoooo it's a Something. I had to sit through this twice because there were so many layers to sift through, and I'll likely sit through it again because I know I'm probably missing a few layers. Being that I lived through the big Satanic Panic and Horror Movie Backlash in the 80s, I went in watching with all those old memories coming back since being a Horror loving metalhead back then pretty much meant at worst-people were assuming it was only a matter of time before you were on the news for some sort of evil cult murder spree, and at best-you needed to spend some time in an asylum because being interested in all that wasn't normal or healthy. I still remember my Mom was planning for us to visit England again in the 80s and in the tourist do's and don't's packet we got, it had Fangoria magazine listed as forbidden to bring in the country. Storyline here follows Enid, who's a censor for the film board during the Video Nasties era. She takes her job in 'protecting the public' very seriously, but as she's reviewing 'Don't Go in the Church', strange things begin to happen. A point I tend to bring up (to mixed responses) when censorship is called for be it towards movies, video games, music...take your pick is it speaks more about the loudly outraged than what the content is. For example, during the PMRC hearings, the Washington Wives couldn't stop going on about all this obscenity and lewdness in Heavy Metal and Rap music that looking back, spoke more about how perverse their minds were than what the actual content and context was. For how many times over the decades I've seen this happen, it almost always turns out the ones who were the most loudly outraged had something to hide. In the case of this movie, Enid most certainly has something to hide. My interpretation of events is that Enid had something to do with her sister's death. Most likely an accident, but whether it was from a kid's dare or sibling being awful to the other and it turned tragic, who knows. Enid repressed the memories to the degree they were never able to find her sister's body. There was no kidnapper since they would make it not entirely Enid's fault at what happened to her sister. I think her parents have some inkling of what might've happened since they've had Nina declared dead. Enid clings to the idea her sister's still alive much like a child hopes everything will really be okay when it's not. The combination of the Amnesia Killer's claim he doesn't remember along with the visuals of 'Don't Go in the Church' cut too close to home for Enid and she spirals into madness until she's had a complete break from reality. Another key point that tends to get memory holed in reality is the media jumping to conclusions in the pursuit of ratings. Child's Play 3 was claimed to be the motivation for the murder of James Bulger, but there was no proof and the likely motive far more complex than watched a movie. Halloween was blamed as the motive for a murder that ended up being the murderer was on PCP and cocaine. Most remember the movies getting blamed, but not the truth of what happened because that doesn't generate the sensational headlines. In this film, the film 'Deranged' is blamed for the Amnesia Killer's actions, but it's later revealed he never saw the film. Overall, I liked the film. I particularly liked the use of actual film-film and VHS. I'm not as good as some of my co-workers who'd be able to tell what mm film and/or cameras used at a glance, but it was a nice nuance that I felt added to the imagery. Definitely a recommend from me.
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May 13, 2022 15:54
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9. Hidden Gems
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 11) The Mad Magician - 1954 - DailyMotion I think at this point of my life, it's quicker to list what I haven't seen of Price's work than what I have seen. I had planned to watch this during one of the previous challenges, but at the time it didn't hit my subcriteria of being easily accessible for streaming somewhere so everyone's got a chance to watch, and I wasn't going to go to some sketchy site. This was a fun one. Pretty much it follows the theme of House of Wax with a genius at his craft driven mad by someone interfering his work. In this case it's stolen rather than destroyed in House of Wax. As always, Price is pure perfection in this, and it's a high recommend from me.
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May 14, 2022 17:29
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10. The Price is Right
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 12) Sweetheart - 2019 - Netflix A boating trip goes wrong and leaves a young woman trapped on a remote island where there's a monster, because of course there is. First impression is this film's very tight and lean. We're given just enough to move on to the next point. While it's nice there's no bloat, it would've helped if we had a bit more characterization. Jenn's resourceful, but still makes the occasional mistake. Her boyfriend and friends however, are a particular level of stupid and out of touch to the degree you're not surprised they die and it's a relief when they do. I kept wondering why the hell is Jenn bothering with these idiots in her life. Seriously, here's Jenn who was on the island for a good week, warning of there's a danger and these two are going to whine over 'you weren't happy on our trip' or 'well, you lied about this other thing this one time so we don't believe you'. Even if you don't believe there's a monster, there very well could be some dangerous animal out there. But then, these are the idiots who likely murdered a friend on the raft and don't want to leave the island because of repercussions. I get the vibe that even with what resources the island has, they'd still gently caress it up. I did feel like the bit with them did make things drag a bit. The monster design was nice. The ending was fine. A dash of Predator with an enigmatic 'now what?'.
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May 17, 2022 10:48
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11. Horror Noire
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 13) Rose Red - 2003 - DVD The short-short synopsis is Stephen King does Legend of Hell House/The Haunting. Normally I'm pretty good about catching stuff like this when it first airs, but I had so much personal crap going on I don't even remember seeing the ads for this. I picked this up in a discount bin at Walmart. For me, the standard pick up diet soda, eggs, bread, handful of horror films. With now many films I've got stacked up and on watch lists, it's taken me a while to finally get to this. Overall, it's exactly what you'd expect from Stephen King. Plenty of his quirks are here like the 50s era music, person with Powers, callbacks to his other work like the shower of stones echoing the one in Carrie. The shots of the house are gorgeous. The practical effects are very good. The CGI...oof. It's bad. I've seen better in video games from the 90s. The characters are pretty decent, the actors all doing a good job. Comparing this to King's other 'not an adaptation' works, this is average.
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May 18, 2022 01:30
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12. All Hail the King
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STAC Goat posted:But where the hell is Dick Miller?!? I honestly don't think he was in that one. And here's my last entry for the challenge. Hit my 13 for the month along with GMM's challenge. Might watch some more, mostly depends on how work goes. gey muckle mowser posted:
 14) The Boogie Man Will Get You - 1942 - Youtube This one's a classic screwball comedy with horror, kinda like Arsenic & Old Lace is. It's a delight to see Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre hamming it up like it ain't no thing. Storyline follows a young divorcee buying a 'seen better days' tavern with the goal of turning it into a hotel. One of the conditions of the sale is that the previous owner is able to stay on since his laboratory is in the basement and he needs to finish his experiments. What she doesn't know is that those experiments are to create advanced humans for the war effort and the failures are in the basement as well. The actual humor here's hit or miss. If you like vintage screwball comedies, you'll like this one. The characters are more consistently funny compared to the rest. Karloff's wonderful as the slightly absent minded mad scientist, and Lorre's great as the town's mayor/sheriff/bigwig whose assistant is a kitten he keeps in his pocket. Overall, I liked this.
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May 19, 2022 04:53
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13. Sins of the Past
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MacheteZombie posted:Oh nice, appreciate the review, I've had this on my list for awhile but the concept worried me. Mostly want to watch it for Frances Raines who I really liked in Disconnected and The Mutilator aka Fall Break If memory serves, the director's prior work was all in porn so it's normal to be cautious. But yeah, it's far tamer than expected and much tamer than some of the later remakes were. *casts a stink eye at Dying God*
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May 19, 2022 23:00
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Considering how work's been during May and coming up on Jurassic June, I made a good call to just aim for 13 this go. Only reason I'm up and posting this recap is for how heavy I was scheduled on top of also pulling extra hours is I'm waiting for my pain meds to kick in so I can sleep. At least my paycheck'll be sweet even if I might not have the energy to spend it. Anyway, here's my recap list: 1) After Midnight 2) Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched 3) Titane 4) The House with a Clock in its Walls 5) Stage Fright 6) Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson 7) Death Walks on High Heels 8) various short films 9) Virus: 32 10) Censor 11) The Mad Magician 12) Sweetheart 13) Rose Red 14) The Boogie Man Will Get You I did all the challenges in order because it was easier that way this time. As always this was very fun, and reading everyone's reviews have added more films to my evergrowing watchlists. Much thanks to GMM for running this. You did a drat good job.
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Jun 4, 2022 08:18
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 04:40 |
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Congrats VROOM VROOM!
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Jun 8, 2022 03:45
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