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WeedlordGoku69
Feb 12, 2015

by Cyrano4747
Whether or not I agree with that depends on the cut being discussed. The theatrical cut definitely has pacing issues, and the "director's cut" amplifies them, but the Argento cut is really drat tightly paced and makes a better rewatch than the theatrical cut imo (even if it does lose a fair bit in the process- I'd never suggest it for a first viewing).

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Watrick
Mar 15, 2007

C:enter:###
#82.Ozone: Attack of the Redneck Mutants (1986). A hole in the ozone layer is causing people to turn into mutants.

This 80's schlock fest has one redeeming quality. the blood and gore. The character are despicable. The pacing is stupid. There is a long scene with a woman preparing dinner. It has no purpose, just like this movie.

#83.Sleepless (2001). Almost twenty years after a serial killer goes into hiding he/she, or someone else, returns to kill again.

For being later Argento, this still manages to retain his feel exceptionally well. Unlike later films such as Pelts, The Mother of Tears, etc., this looks like it's one of films. The kills are really brutal. A woman is stabbed repeatedly in the mouth with an english horn. The plot isn't as interesting as one would hope. It plays out more like a murder mystery.

#84.A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (1987). The last of the children whose parents killed Freddy Kreuger are in a mental hospital while Freddy targets them.

More of a sequel to 1 than 2, this is arguably the best of the series. Freddy hasn't gone completely silly yet, and unlike the others all of the victims are contained in one location, giving the film more dread. The characters are defenseless in their dreams and in the waking world as well. The special effects are great this in this too.

#85.Sisters (1973). A columnist witnesses a murder in an apt across the street. She sets off to find the truth.

This was fun. Very Hitchcockian at points, with the decent gore/blood. It moved as a surprisingly quick pace for being full of dialogue and investigation. All in all, Brian De Palma put out a good horror/mystery.

#86.Burnt Offerings (1976). A family moves into a big house over the summer and things take a haunting turn.

A haunted house-ish flick with Karen Black and Oliver Reed? Color me excited. It's a flick that slow burn. The haunting is spare yet effective when it happens, it's not a straight up things moving around the house. It's more of possessions, hallucinations, and the house itself evolving.

#87.Lord of Illusions (1995). A detective looks into the death of an illusionist who might be using real magic.

This is a tame Clive Barker movie. Not a whole heck of a lot of blood, gore, or weirdness. Instead, it plays out almost like a horror movie that wants to be a noir.

#88.Hellraiser II (1988). This sequel takes place directly after the first. Kirsty goes into hell to find her father.

This is a drat good sequel. There are a few plot lines that are all going on, which are all needed to move the narrative forward. There are some pretty horrific images in this compared to the first.

#89.Ice From the Sun (1999). A woman is contracted by angels and demons to go into an alternate dimension and kill a wizard.

My biggest issue with low budget films tends to be the mix, and this is no exception. It's heavy on the soundtrack which is loud, while the dialogue will be almost inaudible due to how low it is. With that being said, it's a decent flick. I appreciated the fantasy aspect without it being up front. The wizard treats his dimension like Freddy does - he can control everything. The camera work was good, although it felt like I was watching mash up of videos that would have been on Alternative Nation. The lighting was pretty drat good too, whoever was in control put some love into it. The acting was what you would expect from a lower budget flick, so I could forgive it.

Jigoku
Apr 5, 2009

Week 1: Travel
1. Unaware [1/10] | 2. Vinyan [8.5/10] | 3. Borderland [4/10] | 4. Calvaire [8/10] | 5. The Forest [2/10] | 6. Dead and Buried [7/10] | 7. The Visit [8/10]
Week 2: Creature
8. Altered [6/10] | 9. Aliens vs Predator [3/10] | 10. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem [4/10] | 11. The Cat (Lao Mao) 1992 [7/10] | 12. Dog Soldiers [5/10] | 13. Prophecy [5/10] | 14. Species [7/10]

Week 3: Technology
15. Skin I Live In [7/10] | Brainscan [3/10] | 17. Virus [6/10]

18. Tetsuo 2
Japan | Transforming Metal Gun Man | Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Gang members begin loving with this guy and his family. After they take his son and a guy holds his son up by his feet and explodes him, he starts to become a metal man who can manifest a gun arm and a bunch of guns in his chest. This isn't half as good as 1, but it's still kind of interesting if you can stomach the loving dumb anime bizarreness of it all and the shaky cam travel sequences. 5/10

19. Tetsuo 3
Japan | Transforming Metal Gun Man | Shin'ya Tsukamoto

This is pretty much the same as the 2nd one, but it's in english, they overexplain the plot, and all of the cool bad guy metal men from 2 are replaced by...Shin'ya Tsukamoto in a t shirt with a piece of paper with an x on his chest and some boxer-briefs. The Final Form is actually pretty rad, but these films get exponentially worse and worse as they go on. The acting in this one is godawful and after 2 of these Shin'ya's quirks and editing are nothing short of obnoxious. 3/10

20. Hellevator
Japan | Serial killers in an elevator

This kinda starts out as a quirky elevator ride on future Japan and then becomes a weird thing where 2 serial killers are in an elevator with 3 other people and they have to take them out, with the knowledge that any murder, even in self defense, is punishable by death. Then there's some weird psychic bullshit that doesn't make sense and probably happened in the Final Girl's head. The serial killer is unbearable. 1/10

21. Pulse
Japan | Computer Ghosts

The protagonists start seeing ghosts in computers and people killing themselves. As the ghost sightings increase, people begin to succumb to the despair or...disintegrate into ash. This film is slllooooowwww. With that being said, you do get a great sense of dread and hopelessness that never lets up. The CGI doesn't hold up at all, but a few scenes do work pretty well. I'd have liked it much more if they cut 30 minutes. 7/10

Question: Are there any Shin'ya recommendations? Haze was wack, I have Vital and it's on the docket. Fire on the Plain, Bullet Ballet, Tokyo Fist, and A Snake in June sound pretty good.

Jigoku fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Oct 19, 2015

timeandtide
Nov 29, 2007

This space is reserved for future considerations.
Curse of Chucky
I have never actually seen a Child's Play/Chucky movie outside of 10 minutes from "Bride of," but I enjoyed this more than I thought possible. It functions well as a clean reboot maybe outside of (cameo spoiler) knowing who Jennifer Tilly is playing and a continuation. The cinematography is surprisingly good, too, which was a huge shock for a direct-to-DVD #6 in a series helmed by a screenwriter. The characters are all decently acted and flawed but investable, but that also works against it a bit in that the ending seems almost cruel - the crippled woman has her mother murdered, her extended family murdered, and her niece presumably possessed by Chucky, PLUS she goes to an insane asylum/prison? Oh, and of course Brad Douriff is fantastic. (3.5/5)

Ginger Snaps
This is actually kind of gut-wrenching by the end. Like The Fly and other 80s films, it recognizes the inherent tragedy of the monster film and plays it out faithfully for pathos. Not only a decent monster movie, but also/because of the attention to the teenage growing up angst - the early scenes of fall and the sisters at school seem strangely "real," like they could be from a home movie; the cheap production values and off-kilter acting actually add to it and make it seem both unique and at the same time familiar. The mom's bizarre outfits are my favorite detail, or maybe the dad's sort of non-presence, just nodding and uttering a single dad-like syllable in a few scenes. Sure, the creature effects are not great, even for low-budget, and I wish they had kept Ginger as being portrayed by the actress but under make up for the finale, but it's a small quibble. (5/5)

Dust Devil: The Final Cut
I thought this was too slow when I first watched it on Friday, but I keep thinking about it and the weird lingering shots of birds eyes, the moon, the sun, etc. keep coming back to me. In anyone else's hands, this could be a typical slasher movie, but Richard Stanley turns a very small movie with barely any kills or action into some sort of vast existentialist battle of good vs. evil and self vs. self. Probably the best Randall Flagg movie you could hope for. Be sure to check out the interview on the disc, the stories shared are quite bizarre and entertaining. (4.5/5)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula
The one where thorn bushes kill Dracula. My copy resembled a VHS bootleg. Christopher Lee mostly sits in a chair. (1/5)

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
#36. Coraline (2009)

Coraline is a quirky 12 year old girl who moves from Michigan to her new home in Oregon with her parents--dad who's goofy buy aloof, and mom who's strict and a pain to deal with. In her new house she discovers a tiny door about 2 feet high with a brick wall behind it. But when she goes to sleep she discovers that on the other side of the door is a parallel universe wherein everything is perfect and ideal for her, including her Other Parents on that side, with buttons for eyes. It all seems like a dream come true, but dreams come at a price...

When this came out, it felt like it was trying too hard to appeal to my hipster sensibilities I had not yet accepted in myself. An adaptation of a Neil Gaiman novel by Henry Selick? Can't be as good as it looks... Over the years I softened on that kind of thing, and pretty much got exactly what I expected with this film--A rich and wonderful stop-motion piece that hits the sweet spot between fantastic and scary, and would have been the sort of movie I would have watched countless times alongside things like Legend and Labyrinth and Something Wicked This Way Comes... if it had come out when I was a child. My only complaint comes from a single scene where judgement seems to have failed the filmmakers and they show a little more than they should, which I believe might be why the film got a PG-13 rating, losing a good chunk of its target audience in the process. Still though, it's a good film to enjoy.

:spooky: :spooky: :spooky: :spooky:/5

#37. The Descent (2005)

Sarah is a thrill seeker in life, doing rugged outdoorsy activities. Unfortunately her husband and daughter are tragically killed in a car accident returning home from one such adventure. Exactly one year later, she and five friends decide to go caving in the Appalachians. They find themselves first facing the expected risks and terrifying dangers spelunking produce, then find themselves facing a more unexpected and unpredictable danger that makes things even more life-threatening.

For years people have crowed about what a good horror movie this is. I think it's because in the early 00s, perhaps because of post-9/11 shellshock, there weren't very many good horror films out there. This was when the turning point hit, alongside a few other films. But I was very underwhelmed by it all. Much of the editing and action still relies heavily on disorientating MTV-style fast cuts that mean you can't tell anything going on. Also, the film feels like two films glued together. The first half with the cave's mix of claustrophobia and images of pure unforgiving void are absolutely seat gripping. The second half of the film meanwhile feels very generic and poorly thought through, though the violent scenes come fast and shocking. It also feels like there was a kernel of an idea not fully germinated you see glimpses of throughout the film that this was originally set to be a psychological horror, with the title even having a double meaning. Basically the whole thing is a let down held higher than it deserves.

:spooky: :spooky:/5

BioTech
Feb 5, 2007
...drinking myself to sleep again...


#15 Spookies

cthulusnewzulubbq posted:

Spookies is a goddamn experience.

Yup, that about sums it up. The acting is terrible, it feels even more random than two seperate films edited into one should, nothing makes sense, but drat if it isn't fun. Farting mud golems, disco music zombies, exploding skeletons and an evil Wizard whose voice-over was recorded in a bathroom are just a few of the crazy things in here. I read someone writing this movie is like a Haunted House ride in that they throw everything they can at you, hope it sticks and at the end you had fun. Really worked that way for me.

#16 Halloween

As I mentioned before my love for horror comes and goes. I must have watched hundreds of horror movies, but for some reason never saw most of the classics. After Hellraiser, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Re-Animator this one was next and drat it was good. Slashers have never really interested me, but I can see how this movie made the genre so popular. The tense atmosphere created by the camerawork hardly ever showing the killer clearly, but often have him be a part of the shots really feels like the people were hunted. The few times were he was visible the (lack of) lighting would obscure him, keeping it mysterious and effectively showing something was off. No gore, very tense, absolutely wonderful.

#17 The House by the Cemetery
After the nighmarish beauty of Suspiria I had high hopes for the next Italian horror movie, but this one didn't work for me at all. The story is a bit of The Shining mixed with a lot of Castle Freak, but it could only barely live up the latter. There were hints of what could have been with the tapes in the library, but whatever dread it evoked there wasn't apparent anywhere else in the film. Very disappointing. I have The Beyond and City of the Living Dead lined up, but I might skip those after this disappointment.

#18 Candyman
drat, I expected a pretty standard slasher movie about a guy with a hook, but this was so much more. Engaging, intelligent and not afraid to do its own thing this movie was a big surprise that left me very happy. Soundtrack was killer, setting was fresh, main guy just oozing this otherworldly charm and majesty while being intimidating, loved loved loved it.

WeedlordGoku69
Feb 12, 2015

by Cyrano4747
Do not skip The Beyond. Also, to the guy who was looking for Tsukamoto recommendations, watch Tokyo Fist, it rules and it's the "real" Tetsuo 2 in my book.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
House By The Cemetary despite going with those other two films as a thematic trilogy, is much smaller and a very different film most of the time from the other ones. Don't pass on them flat out, give one a try before you decide not to watch the other.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
1. Psycho 2. Black Christmas 3. Deep Red 4. Wicker Man 5. The Mummy 6. The Curse of Frankenstein 7. Drag Me to Hell 8. Candyman 9. Child’s Play 10. Lords of Salem 11. Suspiria 12. Hellraiser 13. From Beyond 14. Evil Dead 15. Evil Dead II 16. Re-Animator 17. Necronomicon 18. The Wolfman 19. The Howling 20. An American Werewolf in London 21. Poltergeist

What a coincidence, on Friday night I watched:

22. City of the Living Dead

I chose to watch City of the Living Dead instead of The House by the Cemetery because I hadn't liked it all that much the first time, and I wanted to give it another shot. I'm glad I did because it made much more of an impression on me this time.

Fulci is interesting because he maintains a similar style as his predecessors like Bava and Argento, but the gore is just cranked up to 11. There are a few scenes in City of the Living Dead that go way beyond anything Argento or Bava would have done. Its probably most famous for the power drill through the head scene, but I was more affected by the scene where the girl's entire digestive system is slowly and methodically expelled from her mouth.. There's some nasty, nasty poo poo in this movie.

The hanged priest makes for a surprisingly effective villain, for whatever reason I didn't really notice him very much on first viewing. Its very difficult to guess who the "main characters" are in this movie and there are one or two pretty unexpected deaths that were very effective. Overall I enjoyed it a lot, its moves at a good pace and if you're into gore there's something for you about every 5 minutes. Fun sountrack too, if maybe a little wacky at times.

Grnegsnspm
Oct 20, 2003

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarian 2: Electric Boogaloo
Day 19 - Day of the Triffids

I have seen a lot of crappy 50s and 60s sci-fi horror films in my day. Granted, a fair number of those have also had Tom Servo cracking jokes during them. I had, of course, heard of Day of the Triffids before but all I knew about it was that plants started walking around and killing people like a slightly less stupid version of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. Turns out that it is actually much more interesting and complex with the triffids themselves mostly acting as an outside threat to a world that has already been driven into an apocalyptic state.

Full Review

4 out of 5

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
1. Psycho 2. Black Christmas 3. Deep Red 4. Wicker Man 5. The Mummy 6. The Curse of Frankenstein 7. Drag Me to Hell 8. Candyman 9. Child’s Play 10. Lords of Salem 11. Suspiria 12. Hellraiser 13. From Beyond 14. Evil Dead 15. Evil Dead II 16. Re-Animator 17. Necronomicon 18. The Wolfman 19. The Howling 20. An American Werewolf in London 21. Poltergeist 22. City of the Living Dead

23. Sleepy Hollow

I had a few days here with nothing specifically lined-up so went the Netflix route and just picked out a few things that I happened to be in the mood for at the moment. It had been years since I'd seen Sleep Hollow, it really holds up and even seems to have improved with age. Depp's character is one that he's played several different times in slightly different forms, but he's drat good at it so it works just fine here. The movie looks amazing, that's its major selling point, combined with its R-rating and the fact that its extremely violent. Tim Burton really hasn't made any other films that are this dark and violent, even if he did come up with a clever way to show countless beheadings without blood. As crazy as it may sound, this could potentially make a top-ten list of all-time great Christopher Walken performances, only because he does so much here with so little screen time and no dialogue. If I had any complaints it'd be Ricci's performance, she doesn't really feel as invested in what she's doing as Depp is.

24. Curse of Chucky

I had heard good things about this and they were mostly correct, this is a rare horror sequel that is very worthwhile. It doesn't waste any time, and doesn't assume you need a primer on who Chucky is and what happened in the previous movies. There is one particular scene that actually managed to scare me, which I didn't expect from a Child's Play sequel in 2015. And it didn't just startle me, the situation itself was just downright scary.

Dourif somehow managed to get his daughter the lead role, I suppose it was probably the main reason he agreed to do the movie. Even so he's always a pro, he does his work in this the same way he's always done it. The cameo at the end is pretty funny and enjoyable, I'm glad it was saved for the end and kept separate from the movie itself. All in all a very pleasant surprise, and a movie that demonstrates that this kind of thing can be done well, there's no rule that says they all have to be a Hellraiser: Revelations-level disaster.

Darthemed
Oct 28, 2007

"A data unit?
For me?
"




College Slice


#18. Conjure (2006). Well, this was the most memorable of the horror movies I've watched for this month. Written and directed by star Matt Busch (who also did the music with AKM Music, UK), this movie tells the story of illustrator Matt Busch and his girlfriend Sarah (played by Matt Busch's girlfriend, Sarah Wilkinson, who handled costume design) and the dangers of illustration. It's shot on video, with extra footage from archival brought in for the opening ~10-minute sequence that lets you know Matt Busch worked for Star Wars (Anthony Daniels is credited with Special Appearance for showing up in this part and praising Matt's C-3PO piece), Poison (the band), Marvel Comics, and others.

Once that's done, Matt finds a picture of a castle in a snowy graveyard and takes it home to illustrate. But he puts too much power into it! This allows a ghost or something to move a bottle of water around on the kitchen counter, and then some wine glasses are also moved. Later, Matt and Sarah are teleported into the painting, with one regular spider and ghosts and stuff. Notable exchange of dialogue: "I found a colored pencil." "There's another one here, too. And there's some more over there." Things get spooky, and Matt finds a way out, but there's still a ghost problem. But then he solves it. In an ending that uses the same footage with different voice-over for the regular and alternate versions (with a main character dying in one), Matt then returns the photo to the graveyard.

There's a lot more to it, of course. Like the scenes shot at Matt's house, where they have to be careful and run slowly so that nothing will get knocked to the floor or such. Or how he has a neon Busch Lite sign in one room. The reuse of spooky footage, including a mummy ghost with her pig-tail hair sticking out of the bandages. The troubled volume leveling for some of the score, causing it to buzz in the low end (I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and assume there was a power electronics angle there, though the System of a Down shirt Matt sports and Sarah's Marilyn Manson hoodie suggest that's not the case). The matching arm tattoos of the spooky crop circle symbol made by the ghosts, which I thought were markered on until seeing the Arm Tattoo credit at the end. It's kind of special in the same way as The Black Ninja or The Room, if they'd used the actor's names and occupations for their respective characters.

While it may sound irredeemable, there were parts that I liked. The main plot idea, of an artist becoming truly absorbed in his work until it consumes him, has a lot of potential. Having a mutually supportive couple getting through the situation was preferable to other ways they could have gone with it. And the ghost character designs were decent enough on paper (we see their original illustrations, of course). But between the acting, the need for a more experienced editor (Busch mentions in the deleted scenes that the first cut was three hours), the dull wandering of the castle, and the abusive over-use of time-lapse shooting, the fun idea gets its throat cut. A Lars von Trier remake would be delightful. 3/10.

Darthemed fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Oct 19, 2015

twerking on the railroad
Jun 23, 2007

Get on my level
Night before last I rewatched Event Horizon. I love that film.

Last night I watched house of 1000 corpses. I think I've determined that I'm not one for Rob zombie's style because I didn't much care for devils rejects either. Would I like his Halloween or Texas chainsaw any better?

Wilhelm Scream
Apr 1, 2008

Skeesix posted:

Night before last I rewatched Event Horizon. I love that film.

Last night I watched house of 1000 corpses. I think I've determined that I'm not one for Rob zombie's style because I didn't much care for devils rejects either. Would I like his Halloween or Texas chainsaw any better?

House of 1000 Corpses is his Texas Chainsaw and if you don't like The Devil's Rejects, you most likely wouldn't like his two Halloween films.

CopywrightMMXI
Jun 1, 2011

One time a guy stole some downhill skis out of my jeep and I was so mad I punched a mailbox. I'm against crime, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Wilhelm Scream posted:

House of 1000 Corpses is his Texas Chainsaw and if you don't like The Devil's Rejects, you most likely wouldn't like his two Halloween films.

Ho1kC is his Texas Chainsaw 2.

Namirsolo
Jan 20, 2009

Like that, babe?
I haven't updated in a while, so here we go...


11. It Follows (rewatch)- I love this soundtrack and the lighting. Overall, pretty great.
12. Monster House (rewatch)- Better the second time than I remembered from before.
13. Tucker and Dale vs Evil (rewatch)- I just love this movie.
14. Let the Right One In (rewatch)
15. Cabin in the Woods (rewatch)- I liked this more the first time I saw it- probably because I was drinking. I'm lukewarm on it now.
16. Housebound- I liked it. It felt more like a dark comedy to me.
17. The Purge: Anarchy- This one felt more like an action movie. Nothing about it was scary and it was really boring.
18. Secret Window
19. Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead- Hilarious. I liked it better than the first one.
20. Coraline
21. Halloween (rewatch)- It's always fun to see this again and pick out new things that I didn't realize this film started. For instance, after Michael kills the one girl's boyfriend, he cocks his head at the body... totally creepy and innovative.

I'm at the beginning of the 4th season of Tales from the Crypt. I've stalled and Netflix's shipping (yes I have discs) is slowing me down. I don't think I'll make it through, but I'm looking good at hitting 31 movies for the month with lots of thanks to Lurdiak!

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.


:toot:

Happy to help, Namir!

Topper Harley
Jul 6, 2005
You have the whitest white part of the eyes I've ever seen. Do you floss?

LORD OF BUTT posted:

Whether or not I agree with that depends on the cut being discussed. The theatrical cut definitely has pacing issues, and the "director's cut" amplifies them, but the Argento cut is really drat tightly paced and makes a better rewatch than the theatrical cut imo (even if it does lose a fair bit in the process- I'd never suggest it for a first viewin

Oh, you know what? I don't think I've actually seen the Argento cut. I've always meant to because didn't he redo the music with Goblin?

33. Tales of Halloween (2015)

I really wanted to like this, but it felt like a mess to me. None of the stories were long enough for me to really care what happened. Some of them ended right when they were getting good and some of them (well, one of them) were actually incomprehensible. I loved the color scheme and I adored the Halloween decorations and October vibe, but the movie itself was just a mess. What a bummer.

Random Stranger
Nov 27, 2009



Day 19 - Yotsuya Kaidan is the second time that I've watched a movie based on the classic Japanese folktale this month. The other one, Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, was directed by a man who is generally considered to be the best Japanese horror film director of the 1950's and 60's; this 1949 version was not. I might even wind up watching another adaptation of the story before the month is out.

This film was released in two parts, and I watched both of them, though I'm only counting it as one film for my purposes. The whole thing only has a running time of about two and a half hours (86 minutes and 70 minutes)

To go over the basic plot again, Iemon is a poor samurai who's a bit of jerk. He's married to Oiwe who is a kind and loyal wife. An opportunity presents itself where a rich samurai's daughter falls in love him him and Iemon wants to divorce Oiwe to marry her but can't bring himself to do it. He's got an evil friend, however, that pushes him to murder Oiwe as the easy way out. One thing leads to another, murder happens, and Iemon gets a new wife but he's haunted by his old one.

In the 1959 film, Iemon is such a complete monster that he deserves that full on Japanese ghost style torment that he gets. The Iemon in this film is a jerk, but not a complete shitheel. His marital problems start with a miscarriage and that leads to him flirting with the idea of leaving Oiwe, and in the end, he can't bring himself to do it. Then there's an accident and that leads to Oiwe getting poisoned. The haunting in this film also is more psychological as he is wracked with guilt over her death and is being blackmailed by those in the know about it. There's most ghostly stuff in the still images used for the credits than there is for the entire film.

Kinoshita Keisuke is a skilled director, but he lacked the flair for disturbing images that Nobuo Nakagawa gave to the 1959 version. He also populated the film with many more characters and subplots to flesh things out. It gave this Yotsuya Kaidan almost a kind of soap opera feel. It was a decent movie, but the 1959 version (on Hulu as Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan) is the one to watch as a horror movie.

Also, here's a 19th century illustration of the story just because I found some of this artwork kind of interesting:



For tomorrow, I managed to dig up another film by Nakagawa, who as far as I can tell has only had four of his films translated into English.

mikeycp
Nov 24, 2010

I've changed a lot since I started hanging with Sonic, but I can't depend on him forever. I know I can do this by myself! Okay, Eggman! Bring it on!

Random Stranger posted:

Day 19 - Yotsuya Kaidan

The other day I was actually recommended Kinji Fukusaku's 1994 version of this story.

It was apparently originally a double feature piece to go after 47 Ronin where Iemon was one of the Ronin who didn't join up. Fukusaku's movie adds some 47 Ronin stuff in there, which sounds pretty rad.

e: Apparently the English name is Crest of Betrayal.

mikeycp fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Oct 20, 2015

Random Stranger
Nov 27, 2009



mikeycp posted:

The other day I was actually recommended Kinji Fukusaku's 1994 version of this story.

It was apparently originally a double feature piece to go after 47 Ronin where Iemon was one of the Ronin who didn't join up. Fukusaku's movie adds some 47 Ronin stuff in there, which sounds pretty rad.

e: Apparently the English name is Crest of Betrayal.

That's an interesting choice. The real life figures that Yotsuya Kaidan were based on lived about a hundred years after the 47 Ronin. Still, I can see how you could make some thematic connections to bridge the two.

FWIW, if I watch a third version of this story this month it's going to be the 1966 version that was given the title Illusion of Blood internationally.

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine
reposting from the October Chat thread;


okay so I'm attempting the 31 Movies challenge(starting late enough in the month that I'm not going to beat myself up if I fail though I'm definitely going to try to hit 13 at minimum), here's what I've watched so far;

1. Monster Squad: overall pretty good, feels like it could have been 20-40 minutes longer though to flesh some things out properly and give Mummy and Gillman more screentime(both feel as though they were added to the movie relatively last minute compared to Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf-Man), definitely at least an 8/10, maybe even a 9/10

2. Halloween III: Season of The Witch: in my opinion this is a fantastic and atmospheric movie that is surprisingly minimalist in nature which just ramps up the horror in my opinion(even if it is a bit slow in parts), would be interesting to see it get a remake someday, I'd say 8.5/10

not completely sure what I'm going to watch next, but The Stuff and Q: The Winged Serpent are likely candidates(indeed a very large amount of the movies I'm probably going to watch this month are going to be from the 80's due to 80sHorror.net making it easy to watch a lot of these movies, especially those movies on this list)

anyone have any other good suggestions, preferably one's with minimal jump scare moments(never been a huge fan of those)

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
1. Psycho 2. Black Christmas 3. Deep Red 4. Wicker Man 5. The Mummy 6. The Curse of Frankenstein 7. Drag Me to Hell 8. Candyman 9. Child’s Play 10. Lords of Salem 11. Suspiria 12. Hellraiser 13. From Beyond 14. Evil Dead 15. Evil Dead II 16. Re-Animator 17. Necronomicon 18. The Wolfman 19. The Howling 20. An American Werewolf in London 21. Poltergeist 22. City of the Living Dead 23. Sleep Hollow 24. Curse of Chucky

I'm starting a run of Dracula films, each year I seem to pick up a new one, this year I'll be watching the 1973 version starring Jack Palance. But first:

25. Dracula(1931)

I'd of course seen this before, but last night I watched it on blu ray for the first time and it looks excellent. The sharper image really make Lugosi's facial expressions pop, and all of the characters just feel more intense because of it. Dwight Frye's Renfield is very underrated in this, he's probably the character that would be considered actually "scary", whereas Lugosi's Dracula is interesting and compelling but not outright frightening. The sets really hold up to the blu ray quality picture, they don't look cheap or artificial in any way, with the exception of a few matte paintings(I love matte paintings so no complaints!).

I also really appreciate how short these Universal monster movies were, I enjoy watching a 75 or 80 minute film that moves along at a brisk pace and doesn't waste any time. Later on this week I'll be watching Herzog's Nosferatu, and while I love that film, I do feel it could be about 20 minutes shorter.

26. Horror of Dracula

Watching this back-to-back with Universal's version, for the first time I do see how black and white has advantages over color. I've always loved Hammer's visual style, with the colorful sets and costumes(Cushing's red velvet dinner jacket is absolutely ridiculous in this), but undeniably there are moments here and there where the low budget shows through and the sets look a little bit cheap. Lugosi's castle feels much more real, Lee's feels like an immaculately made movie set.

That said, this is still my favorite Dracula adaptation of all-time. For one, the way it plays around with the established characters is great, and keeps you guessing if you're expecting the usual story beats. The idea of making Harker a kind-of secret agent vampire hunter working for Van Helsing is brilliant, and the Lucy and Mina characters have slightly different roles to play in the story.

As always Peter Cushing elevates the entire film, without him who knows what Hammer would have been. He entertains me by simply sitting in his parlor writing in a journal about vampires, he's just got that indefinable quality that makes you want to watch him. He's the one major factor that puts this above Universal's version in my opinion, although the Van Helsing in that one is no slouch either. Because of Cushing's presence, and how iconic Lee's Dracula is, this is the movie that I recommend to people when they ask where to start with Hammer. I feel confident in saying that if you don't like Horror of Dracula, you won't like Hammer in general.

mikeycp
Nov 24, 2010

I've changed a lot since I started hanging with Sonic, but I can't depend on him forever. I know I can do this by myself! Okay, Eggman! Bring it on!

Random Stranger posted:

That's an interesting choice. The real life figures that Yotsuya Kaidan were based on lived about a hundred years after the 47 Ronin. Still, I can see how you could make some thematic connections to bridge the two.

FWIW, if I watch a third version of this story this month it's going to be the 1966 version that was given the title Illusion of Blood internationally.

Just to be clear, I meant the original kabuki version of Yotsuya Kaidan was set as a companion piece to 47 Ronin, not just Fukusaku's version.

Don't know if you misunderstood or not, but I realize that my wording was vague as to what I was talking about.

For a kabuki play the time difference makes sense since people going to those weren't looking for any sort of depth or realism. Kabuki is all about the base story beats and most importantly the spectacle of the whole thing.

e: We actually talk about this at a fair length with Zack Davisson in the upcoming 3rd Horror Kiwi.

Grnegsnspm
Oct 20, 2003

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarian 2: Electric Boogaloo
Day 20 - Stalled

The zombie movie has been done so often that you have to have a gimmick for your zombie movie now to make it even remotely interesting. For Stalled¸ the gimmick is that almost the entire movie takes place inside the stall of the women’s restroom. As far as these things go, having your film be limited to taking place in such a confined space could be a great way to heighten the tension and claustrophobia of the situation. This is a horror comedy, though, so it could also just be a great way to get a lot of poop jokes and women’s bathroom humor.

Full Review

3 out of 5

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
#38. Tomb of Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned (1980)

The film opens with Dracula crashing a Satanist ceremony and totally stealing Satan's bride to be. Hans and Rachel Harker, vampire hunters and descendants of Johnathon Harker are vampire hunters who recruit Drake, a biological descendant of pre-vampire Vlad Dracul to help them track down and defeat the count. One year later, and Drac's been laying low. The bride he stole and he have fallen in love and had a baby, Janus, while the hunters and the Satanists both are gunning for him. Over the course of the film, Dracula finds him fighting the vampire hunters, the Satanists, his infant son killed and brought back to life as a full grown anti-vampire superhero, rivals for his throne, his cravings for cheeseburgers, and whatever drugs the screenwriters were taking.

Wow. This is the other film Marvel commissioned anime companies to make based on their horror books in the early 80s (I already reviewed the frankenstein one) and whoo boy is it insane. I spent a good chunk of the movie wondering what the hell I was watching. It's certainly cheapjack, as most US sponsored anime was at the time, but this one gets ludicrous left and right as the synopsis above indicates. It's lots of fun though.

:spooky: :spooky: :spooky: .5/5

#39. Fright Night II (1988)

By now I assume you're familiar with the first's film plot--Charlie Brewster learns a vampire, Jerry Dandridge, moves in next door. He gets local horror host Peter Vincent to help him kill the vampire, though noone believes him. Now three years later, Charlie is finally getting over things, believing the vampire portion of the story was a hallucination brought on by the trauma of Dandridge attempting to kill him and his friends. He's now in college, and he decides to visit Peter (who still believes). While there he meets a sexy lady named Regine who moves into Peter's building. He and Peter start to have suspicions that she's a vampire, and surprise surprise, she is! Jerry Dandridge's sister no less! She begins a plan of revenge, slowly turning Charlie into the undead to torture long term, while Peter and Charlie's girlfriend Alex try to make a plan to stop these monsters (Regine has several undead lackeys) from destroying the campus.

Well, this film was alright. I did enjoy it, as it seemed to be having fun the whole time. And I appreciated that it did its homework with what you can use to fight vamps with, such as wild rose, or communion wafers. The special effects were about on par with the first film, with little actual on-screen transformations, as much as quick cuts away and back. The acting was pretty much as 80s as it gets. I'd probably rank this film on par with like, Vamp so, good for a lazy watch, not something super exciting.

:spooky::spooky::spooky:/5

Random Stranger
Nov 27, 2009



mikeycp posted:

Just to be clear, I meant the original kabuki version of Yotsuya Kaidan was set as a companion piece to 47 Ronin, not just Fukusaku's version.

Don't know if you misunderstood or not, but I realize that my wording was vague as to what I was talking about.

For a kabuki play the time difference makes sense since people going to those weren't looking for any sort of depth or realism. Kabuki is all about the base story beats and most importantly the spectacle of the whole thing.

e: We actually talk about this at a fair length with Zack Davisson in the upcoming 3rd Horror Kiwi.

Ah, I thought you meant that the movie Crest of Betrayal married the two stories. And I meant it when I said it was, "An interesting choice." If you've got something worth saying with fiction, who cares if the histories don't match up; it's just an interesting idea to mash those two particular stories together. There wasn't any real hint of a link to 47 Ronin in the two movies I've watched, though Iemon's station at the beginning is left undefined enough (he's poor and he doesn't have a master and that's pretty much it) that it could be filled in if the viewer wants.

But to get to another Japanese horror film....

Day 20 - I watched Borei Kaibyo Yashiki, released internationally as Black Cat Mansion or Mansion of the Ghost Cat. It features the least sexy cat girl ever in Japanese media!

A doctor takes his sick wife out to stay in the country at a mansion which is rumored to be haunted. Shockingly, the rumors are accurate as it's haunted by the spirit of a cat that's been taking bloody vengeance upon residents of the house for centuries. In a film featuring violence over a board game, no one noticing the rotting corpses smelling up the house, and a guy leaving his wife alone all the time despite her being attacked by an angry ghost ever time he turns his back for a minute, the least realistic thing is that any cat would ever actually do what it's owners want.

This was definitely a strange one. There's nested stories in this film and the ending is extremely abrupt. The feudal era story is much more interesting than the modern one and I was a bit disappointed when it wrapped up and I had to go back to the doctor and his wife.

Black Cat Mansion looked good (especially in the past), but it wasn't as sharp with the imagery as the other films by Nakagawa that I've watched (Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan and Jigoku). It did leave me wanting to check out more films by him, but as far as I can tell there are only two more films of his translated into English out of the roughly twenty horror films he directed. I did manage to find one of them, though, so I'm going to check out The Snake Woman's Curse this weekend.

Darthemed
Oct 28, 2007

"A data unit?
For me?
"




College Slice


#19. Child's Play 2 (1990). When I was a kid, the cover art for this had a knack for making me stop to stare at it in the video store. Turns out that's probably when I should have watched it, as a lot of the movie's most potent stuff is geared towards kid fears. There's adults not believing you about very important things, being separated from your real parent(s), an unreasonable disciplinarian of a teacher, and getting blamed for breaking something important when you didn't do it. Respect to Alex Vincent, who plays main kid Andy, as he does a lot to carry the movie. Grace Zabriskie does fine in a relatively minor role as the foster family coordinator, but the members of Andy's foster family are a little weak on the acting front, particularly the dad. Some more scenes of kookiness at the PlayPals factory with the executives would have been welcome, as the disbelief of Andy drags on just a little too long, and could have used something to help break it up; expansion of the couple of scenes at school could also have added something neat. Once things shift into the last leg of the story, it plugs along pretty decently, but really picks up once they hit the factory, thanks to all the assembly line novelties. Chucky going mini-Ash was kind of fun, but again, it felt a little too restrained for what it could have done, especially with the plastic body horror bit towards the very end. That last ten minutes or so brought the biggest point of disbelief, as Andy really should have known from the last movie to loving make sure Chucky was dead, after he revived himself four or five times in that one. Overall, though, pretty decent, and better than a Child's Play sequel could have gone. 6/10.

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine
3. The Stuff: that was a really entertaining movie(if relatively light on the actual scares) full of fun characters(rest in piece Chocolate Chip Charlie:smith:), heck they even made the Right Wing Nut a relatively sympathetic person:patriot:, also Jason is one intense kid:black101::stare:, overall I'd give it a :spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky:½ out of 5 possible :spooky:(decided to switch to this rating system instead as it's more fun)

up next will probably be either Q: The Winged Serpent or The Burning unless anyone has any good suggestions otherwise

cthulusnewzulubbq
Jan 26, 2009

I saw something
NASTY
in the woodshed.

drrockso20 posted:

up next will probably be either Q: The Winged Serpent or The Burning unless anyone has any good suggestions otherwise

I think there are good things about both of those, really. The Burning is relatively slow for good stretches with some extreme, pulpy scenes that stand out even for a slasher film. Q is more about the two leads than the creature, to the movie's benefit.

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

cthulusnewzulubbq posted:

I think there are good things about both of those, really. The Burning is relatively slow for good stretches with some extreme, pulpy scenes that stand out even for a slasher film. Q is more about the two leads than the creature, to the movie's benefit.

yeah Q I've wanted to watch for years, and The Burning sounded pretty interesting as being an early Friday The 13th clone, but hearing that it takes influence from the Cropsey urban legend propelled it even further up my list(as the whole Cropsey myth and the real world events that influenced it are a personal fascination of mine, by the way there's a wonderful documentary on Netflix called Cropsey that goes into this in detail), overall I'll admit I'm relatively inexperienced with Horror(was one of those kids with low tolerances for scary stuff), so it'll be nice to get further acquainted with the genre(watched a bunch of the old Hammer Horror Dracula movies earlier this year, maybe I'll rewatch some of those and get around to watching Dracula AD 1972 to finish out the set of 4 HH Dracula Movies I own)

mikeycp
Nov 24, 2010

I've changed a lot since I started hanging with Sonic, but I can't depend on him forever. I know I can do this by myself! Okay, Eggman! Bring it on!

Random Stranger posted:

Ah, I thought you meant that the movie Crest of Betrayal married the two stories. And I meant it when I said it was, "An interesting choice." If you've got something worth saying with fiction, who cares if the histories don't match up; it's just an interesting idea to mash those two particular stories together. There wasn't any real hint of a link to 47 Ronin in the two movies I've watched, though Iemon's station at the beginning is left undefined enough (he's poor and he doesn't have a master and that's pretty much it) that it could be filled in if the viewer wants.

That is exactly what I was saying though. The film does marry the two stories and it is like that because that's how the original Kabuki plays were presented.

Wikipedia posted:

First staged in July 1825, Yotsuya Kaidan appeared at the Nakamuraza Theater in Edo (the former name of present-day Tokyo) as a double-feature with the immensely popular Kanadehon Chushingura [aka 47 Ronin]. Normally, with a Kabuki double-feature, the first play is staged in its entirety, followed by the second play. However, in the case of Yotsuya Kaidan it was decided to interweave the two dramas...

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
1. Psycho 2. Black Christmas 3. Deep Red 4. Wicker Man 5. The Mummy 6. The Curse of Frankenstein 7. Drag Me to Hell 8. Candyman 9. Child’s Play 10. Lords of Salem 11. Suspiria 12. Hellraiser 13. From Beyond 14. Evil Dead 15. Evil Dead II 16. Re-Animator 17. Necronomicon 18. The Wolfman 19. The Howling 20. An American Werewolf in London 21. Poltergeist 22. City of the Living Dead 23. Sleep Hollow 24. Curse of Chucky 25. Dracula(1931) 26. Horror of Dracula

27. Dracula(1973)

This version is directed by Dan Curtis and I was very interested to see Jack Palance as Dracula. Unfortunately I don't think it really works, Palance just isn't a good fit for the character. He's trying hard, and his acting is pretty strong throughout, but he just doesn't feel like Dracula to me. There's a painting in his castle of young Turkish general Dracula, but in the painting he's got the same 70's haircut as Jack Palance so it looks bizarre. A few times Palance's American accent comes though and I couldn't tell whether or not that was intentional, but it probably wasn't.

The look of the movie is ok, but not as good as a Hammer production even though I'm sure a lot more money was spent here. There are a few scenes that are very beautiful, but then also plenty that are visually drab and uninteresting. The Van Helsing character is a complete nothing in this, not anywhere in the same league as Cushing or even for example Anthony Hopkins. Overall I was somewhat disappointed and glad that I watched it on Hulu instead of blind-buying the blu ray.

28. Dracula(1979)

I watched this last year and I don't remember it being so weird. I'd almost have expected it to be made ten or twelve years earlier because its very trippy. Frank Langella is a much better Dracula than Palance and overall I like the look of this film better than Curtis'. Lots of spider webs and candelabras.

Laurence Olivier is Van Helsing here, so they obviously knew that Van Helsing is a critical character to any Dracula adaptation. That said, Olivier is just ok. Langella's presence overpowers him for the most part. There isn't much blood in this movie, but that's ok, its not really supposed to be scary. This was clearly an attempt to make Dracula more of a romantic figure, and I think it succeeds.


drrockso20 posted:

...maybe I'll rewatch some of those and get around to watching Dracula AD 1972 to finish out the set of 4 HH Dracula Movies I own)

Dracula AD 1972 isn't great, but I enjoyed it more than most seemed to, its just impossible for me to dislike a movie with Lee as Dracula and Cushing as Van Helsing.

It should be seen by all Lee fans because it has, in my opinion, the best line and delivery of his entire career. I don't even need to spoil it because it means nothing without context.

It was my will.

Watrick
Mar 15, 2007

C:enter:###
#90.C.H.U.D. (1984). A police officer, a reverend, and a photographer explore disappearances in the middle of the city.

I haven't watched this in years, I forgot how weird it was. There are several plots all sort of working together where they converge and run to the end of the film. It's held up ok.

#91.Prince of Darkness (1987). A group of doctoral students and university faculty try to learn about a big cylinder full of green spinning liquid found in the basement of a church.

The second in John Carpenter's apocalypse trilogy, this deals with a religious sort of apocalypse. Personally, I love this movie. The concept is neat, I like the characters, and the setting is creepy. The biggest problem is that the technology is out date.

#92.Sweet Home (1989). A film crew goes to explore an old mansion to document it's frescos. It turns out it's haunted.

Being released simultaneously as the game, which is a great horror RPG for the NES, this is pretty good as haunted house flicks go. I'm usually in the camp that a haunted house flick needs good atmosphere, and this has it. Lots of shadows, and I mean LOTS. It has some really cool kills scenes too.

#93. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985). Freddy uses a boy who has moved into Nancy's house to kill for him.

Like Freddy's Dead, this one doesn't have much to do with the Nightmare on Elm Street continuity line. The only connection is that the main character lives in Nancy's house. Everything follows its own logic. Also, the movie is really gay. I'm not using gay in a pejorative sense either, there are blatant homosexual references as well as over and under tones. The main character goes to a S&M bar that his gym teacher frequents. They gym teacher takes him back to the high school, and while and main character is showering the teacher pulls out a pair of jump ropes. Kinky.

#94. Blood Diner (1987). Two brothers and their uncles brain kill people to resurrect an ancient Sumerian God.

This was a loving riot. This movie did not take itself seriously in all the right ways, giving it more leeway to be absurd as all hell. The brothers feed people to patrons at their vegetarian restaurant. There is amazing amounts of sexual harassment directed towards a female police officer that should be wrong, but it's done so well that it's hilarious. The blood is so over the top it borders on parody.

#95. Splinter (2008). A couple gets taken by hostage by some meth heads. They go to a gas station only to get attacked by a parasitic creature.

This was a pleasant surprise. A nice monster movie with some body horror elements. It was well shot, didn't hold back on blood, and a part made me mute the TV. I liked most of the characters, the anti-hero was a really fleshed out character and he was played extremely well. I was surprised that they had such a small cast for it, but it worked to its advantage.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
#40! Jack's Back (1988)

The police and their FBI profiler are flummoxed. There's a copycat killer to Jack The Ripper lurking in LA mimicking each of his kills 100 years to the day, down to the smallest detail. Meanwhile Doctor John Wesford is getting in trouble because he poorly balances his time between the Free Clinic he works at and the shantytown he volunteers to help at. He's truly a good person. One night, while checking up on a prostitute patient he recognizes from both locations, he discovers her to be victim #5, and the killer is one of his coworkers. After a struggle, John is killed by this new "Jack", and the police pin the crimes on him. At the same time, his twin brother Rick, more of a criminal type, gets a psychic vision dream of his brother being killed. After going to the police about it, they start to believe he might have killed his brother and framed him for the crimes. Now, while being tailed by the police, Rick and John's co-worker Chris team up to try to catch the man who is a murderer.

This is a movie that always stared at me from the video shelf but I never got around to it. The box really pitches James Spader's starring role in the film, and almost makes him look creepy in the process, so I went in assuming he'd be the killer rather than the hero. Then before the twin part came up I almost thought they were pulling a Janet Leigh/Psycho maneuver killing him off so early. Regardless, if it wasn't for the weird brief psychic vision subplot, and a strange and random third act full of false leads and red herrings, this film could have been instead of horror, just a straight late-80s Neo-Noir. The music is moody, and the lighting is more so. The hero is a kinda scummy investigator the cops don't trust. He's the only one who can solve the crime in seedy LA. Pretty much textbook. Also funny enough I'd say those same flaws are what keep it from being a very good movie and a classic. It gets kinda confused with itself, and that ultimately is the biggest harm to it.

:spooky::spooky::spooky:/5

Grnegsnspm
Oct 20, 2003

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarian 2: Electric Boogaloo
Day 21 - Highway to Hell

This ending up being much more of a comedy than a horror film. I can't really complain, though, since it has Gilbert Gottfried as Hitler which is a delight. It's everything a movie like this should be with a bunch of stupid Hell jokes, weird cameos, and hilariously bad special effects.

Full Review

4 out of 5

Darthemed
Oct 28, 2007

"A data unit?
For me?
"




College Slice


#20. Trick 'r Treat (2007). Eh, not too great. I might be having a stronger reaction to it because I've seen it talked up so often in CD, but this really didn't do much for me, and some parts went dumber than I was willing to play along with. Happy to see Dylan Baker getting some work, and the camera-work was quite nice in spots, but I don't have many other positive words for it. I guess the bumbling around style plays to the disorganization of a real night spent trick-or-treating, but the comic book angle didn't feel like it worked at all, and when a horror anthology is going to cry out for comparisons to Creepshow in such a way, I think it should have something backing it up (and the line nodding to The Thing came off more as weak, disconnected referencing instead a cool homage).
I was trying to figure out what bugged me about it while watching, and the best I could come up with was that its 'bag of sweets' story collection was all wispy like cotton candy and didn't have enough in the way of toothy crunch. Bouncing around in the chronology of the night was a cute idea, but seeing what was going on during or before the events of another story didn't strengthen or give more weight to the story into which it was tied. In some cases, it opened up inconsistencies instead, which made me wonder why they even bothered. On some even more subjective notes, the humor was just too Whedonish for my taste at times, and the jamming-in of the Marilyn Manson song was embarrassing, more so since it didn't seem to have a connection to what was going on beyond a decade-late link to edgy-dark-vaguely-Gothy girls (also embarrassing: Anna Paquin's delivery of the Red Riding Hood line).
On the up-side, the school bus story seemed to have the most going on, setting up bad poo poo in the town's past, building it into legend, and having modern kids turn it to their own purposes. It kind of fumbled that story's conclusion, but by just sticking with kids (who care the most about Halloween, usually), it felt like the most successful in the tone it achieved. The pumpkin-carving and home invasion stories had the problem of raising questions that needed to be ignored for the story to work every couple of minutes (or less), while the college girls piece felt like it didn't have enough room to grow into anything more than a flat 'here's what's happening, wasn't that a twist!' thing. Maybe if they'd cut that and fleshed everything else out more, it would have been stronger (but then they'd have lost the T&A-focused part of their audience, I guess). 5/10.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

Darthemed posted:


The pumpkin-carving and home invasion stories had the problem of raising questions that needed to be ignored for the story to work every couple of minutes (or less)

Just curious what questions are you referring to? I've seen the movie two or three times and I don't remember noticing anything like that.

Darthemed
Oct 28, 2007

"A data unit?
For me?
"




College Slice
It's being nit-picky, but the group I watched it with kept calling out stuff, like the shotgun blast going through Sam like wind the first time, but hitting him later. How fast-acting the candy was, how nobody noticed the kid being dragged inside, the difficulty getting to the shotgun when it landed a couple of inches out of reach, who was in the bed (or was it just a detached hand?), why the dog was killed, when it clearly had Halloween spirit, things like that. Stuff where if you're in the mood to go along with the ride, it probably doesn't stand out, but just kept building up once we started picking at it.

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cthulusnewzulubbq
Jan 26, 2009

I saw something
NASTY
in the woodshed.

Darthemed posted:

It's being nit-picky, but the group I watched it with kept calling out stuff, like the shotgun blast going through Sam like wind the first time, but hitting him later. How fast-acting the candy was, how nobody noticed the kid being dragged inside, the difficulty getting to the shotgun when it landed a couple of inches out of reach, who was in the bed (or was it just a detached hand?), why the dog was killed, when it clearly had Halloween spirit, things like that. Stuff where if you're in the mood to go along with the ride, it probably doesn't stand out, but just kept building up once we started picking at it.

The mummy hand was a motorized Halloween prop.

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