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King Vidiot
Feb 17, 2007

You think you can take me at Satan's Hollow? Go 'head on!

Skywalker OG posted:

Watched Murder Parry by the people who did Blue Rain. It drags at points but just as in Blue Rain I found the way things were shot to be amazingly immersive. I can't call it a good movie, but it was just so goddamn enjoyable.

Yeah I guess "enjoyable" would be the way to describe it. It was a movie with potential, and the pacing had me wishing at times I was watching something better by the same director. I think that if I hadn't already seen Blue Ruin I wouldn't have given Murder Party a chance, it's just so rough but I liked the writing and the characters and the premise. It reminded me of a really slow Troma movie, and something that a Troma movie should never be is slow.

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Jay Dub
Jul 27, 2009

I'm not listening
to youuuuu...
Wow, I already goofed up.

Oct. 1: From Beyond
Oct. 2: Re-animator

Oct. 4: Night of the Living Dead

What else is there to say about this one? Night of the Living Dead is a stone cold classic, and it gets better every time I watch it. At its most basic it's just a bunch of people stuck in a room, trying to solve a problem, with each decision making things worse. I love how stark and bare-bones the whole production is. It makes it all the more jarring when Romero tosses in a visual flourish or piece of sound design. Even if you're only half watching, scenes like the one where zombie Karen stabs her mother to death demand your attention. Helen's cries echo out and goddamn is it chilling.

Nemesis Of Moles
Jul 25, 2007

Last night was Maniac (Mr Frodo Edition)

Jesus christ

Angryhead
Apr 4, 2009

Don't call my name
Don't call my name
Alejandro




Today I watched Creepshow and They Live.
Creepshow was really fun and I love the comic book aesthetic that tied the stories together. Plenty of laughs and the effects (especially the scene with the cockroaches, you know the one) were great.
On the other hand, I'm bummed, but I didn't enjoy They Live at all. It felt like a bad parody but somehow I doubt that's what they were going for. Especially the fight scene, what the hell?

Six down.

Random Stranger
Nov 27, 2009



Day 5 - One evening in Tokyo a pack of over fifty giggling school girls enters a busy train stations. They link hands to form a chain and on the count of three, all step in front of a moving train. Their deaths are part of a larger pattern of suicides and someone has to figure them out to stop it. Suicide Club feels like a movie based on that old question, "If all of your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"

I was enjoying the movie a lot with it's escalating sense of doom. The strange, sudden suicides. The contrast of the outwardly happy and the end of their lives. There's cheerful tunes that play over scenes of carnage. It's creepy and off putting and fascinating.

Then out of nowhere a glam rock band appears to do a musical number over a rape-murder. It's like the plot of another, much worse movie was suddenly dropped into the one I was watching. I was wrapped up in the interesting themes and strong atmosphere and then this comes out of literally nowhere. Once that subplot wraps up there's an abrupt conclusion that does nothing for the film.

The first hour and fifteen minutes of Suicide Club are fantastic. The last third is a disaster that ruins the entire movie.


I think the next one up for me is Ravenous.

Russian Guyovitch
Apr 22, 2008

Some little mice sat in the barn to spin. Pussy came by and popped her head in. What are you doing my little men?
Six movies in so far. I'm sticking only to films that I've yet to see.

I started off with You're Next. Overall, I enjoyed this. It was a fun take on the home invasion genre that played around with the whole "final girl" convention.

For my second film, I decided to stick with A.J. Bowen films and watched Rites of Spring. This was such an overwhelming disappointment. It was as though the film makers decided to do a spin the overall conceit of From Dusk 'til Dawn, but instead of getting a gritty, well shot crime film that moves into a fun, over-the-top creature feature, we got an amateurish, poorly plotted crime film that clumsily wanders into a lovely rip-off of Jeepers Creepers.

With film number three, I decided to close out the work week with yet another A.J. Bowen film and watched The Sacrament. Given the pacing on this, I wouldn't have guessed that it's a Ti West film. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I felt the story was really lazy, as it's just a straight up telling of the Jonestown mass suicide/massacre. Also, while it's ostensibly a found-footage film, there's definitely some long stretches towards the end where they just sort of give up on that conceit. Still, there were some solid performances, particularly from Gene Jones, that made this film work for me.

Film number four was Escape from Tomorrow. This was just a mess. The story is all over the place and the performances are laughably amateurish.

Film five was Texas Chainsaw. I knew going in that it would be bad, but this was just ridiculous. Why this wasn't made as a sequel to the remake, rather than trying to fit in the timeline of the original is beyond me, especially since the opening shows that the people behind this weren't particularly familiar with the original.

For film six, I strayed from traditional horror and watched ParaNorman. I was really impressed with this. The design work and overall aesthetic were spectacular, and the story and action was particularly intense for a children's movie.

tickle monster
Aug 20, 2006
is in your closet

Russian Guyovitch posted:

For film six, I strayed from traditional horror and watched ParaNorman. I was really impressed with this. The design work and overall aesthetic were spectacular, and the story and action was particularly intense for a children's movie.
ParaNorman is fantastic. As a kid, I grew up on equal parts Disney Halloween movies, like Hocus Pocus, and sneaking into the basement to watch old horror VHS tapes, and it blends the two experiences together perfectly. It manages to be an earnest coming-of-age and learning to accept yourself story and an endearing love letter to the horror genre, without being cloying about either. If I had a 10 year old, ParaNorman is what I'd show them on Halloween.

#5 The Night of the Hunter (Laughton, 1955)
Wow. This was my first time watching the movie, and I knew it was heavily acclaimed, but it still blew me away. The cinematography is fantastic. The use of soft focus, the way that shadows drift and move, and how the camera lingers on a shot just a bit longer than necessary give it a fairytale-esque, dreamlike quality. That, and the use of hymns and singing, hugely enhance contrast between the innocence of the children and the corruption and violence of adult society. In another movie, Mitchum might have been just another bad guy among largely bad people - Lillian Gish is really the only sympathetic adult - but here, his Harry Powell appears as an almost superhuman evil. A

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
I haven't seen it mentioned here but Netflix has this thing called Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell. It's a compilation of b-movie horror/grindhouse/exploitation trailers. It's worth checking out.

forever whatever
Sep 28, 2007

Hitting the wall.
Watched the 1956 version of The Bad Seed last night at a friend's house. I'm trying to watch more classic films, and wow, I'm glad I saw this one...it wasn't what I was expecting. Patty McCormack was very creepy as a sociopathic young girl, but the rather monologue-heavy roles of her mother and classmate's mother, really drew me in and filled me with dread. There is a LOT of talking in this movie (it was adapted from a play) but the acting is top notch and I'm glad I saw it. It's not on streaming but if you are interested in classic horror it's worth a watch. There seemed to be a lot of symbolism in the film that I'm not savvy enough when it comes to film to dissect, but as someone who majored in psychology, I thought it was interesting that the landlord, who was constantly spouting off psychoanalytic theories, was the most trusting of the psychopathic little girl. Definitely unlike any of the modern horror films I've seen lately...or any movie in general...the dialogue was intense.

:spooky:5 out of 5 spooky pumpkins:spooky:

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

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




Tonight's features are:



An American Werewolf in Paris

and



Maniac Cop 2

Tune in at 8:30 Eastern! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/scream-stream-part-2

Pennywise the Frown
May 10, 2010

Upset Trowel

caligulamprey posted:

I almost hesitate to say I kicked off my friend's Shocktober festivities (horror movie marathons every weekend) with Jekyll and Hyde Together Again because I watch that movie, like, once a month, but my friends had never heard of it. They didn't believe me when I said it was the most outrageous film ever made. Then I showed them the transformation scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJWnX1qIbVQ

Holt poo poo this was amazing. I just came here to post this.

I don't post in CD but this is probably my favorite time of year. I did start watching some horror movies the past few days. I got Scream 1 and 2 out of the way. They are a bit more campy then I remember since it's been so long. I remember at least the first one being pretty ground breaking when it came out, albeit I was quite young then. Then I watched Scary Movie 1 last night and I'll probably do 2 tonight.

I watched 26 minutes of The Conjuring before I had to turn in last night. Going to watch the rest tonight.

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

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


Lurdiak posted:



Tonight's features are:



An American Werewolf in Paris

and



Maniac Cop 2

Tune in at 8:30 Eastern! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/scream-stream-part-2

Live in 10!

K. Waste
Feb 27, 2014

MORAL:
To the vector belong the spoils.
1) Re-Animator (1985)
2) Isle of the Dead (1945)
3) Full Moon High (1981)
4) The Innkeepers (2011)

5) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Much like Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II, Tobe Hooper's decade-in-gestation follow-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is more of a quasi-remake than it is a direct sequel, replaying elements from the original in a more over-the-top and broadly comedic fashion. The amazing thing about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (aside from its clear influence on Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses) is the way it manages to be altogether as shocking and morbidly weird as its predecessor. Hooper's tendency towards long takes lends this madcap film an uncomfortable and eccentric sense of true madness, as if Hooper is consciously pushing the content of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre into maximum overdrive and still fundamentally asking that we watch it as a character-driven piece. Suddenly, the dinner-date is transformed into a macabre mad tea party.

CelticPredator
Oct 11, 2013
🍀👽🆚🪖🏋

I have to catch Texas Chainsaw 2 sometime this month. I love that movie. Bill Mosley is so perfectly unhinged as Chop Top, it's one of my favorite 'crazy' performances.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.



I pulled this one out when friends asked for something especially nasty. Matthew Bright wrote/directed, and he's responsible for the script to the Oingo Boingo mindfuck Forbidden Zone and wrote/directed Freeway - and if you haven't seen Freeway... See Freeway.

Oh yeah, he directed Tiptoes, too.

The thing about it is that it's a wildly crass comedy... Until it's not. It goes from wacky montage of Ted Bundy going on a shoplifting spree to the point of stealing televisions and potted plants to getting a pot of water dumped on him from an upstairs neighbor while he's jerking off in the bushes while peeping to straight-up forcing his girlfriend to play dead while he has sex with her while screaming "gently caress. YOU. BITCH." at the top of his lungs. It's really vile.

It's my go-to choice for when looking for a horror movie that has a huge "ick" factor.

Pigbog
Apr 28, 2005

Unless that is Spider-man if Spider-man were a backyard wrestler or Kurt Cobain, your costume looks shitty.
Oh poo poo, I didn't see that there was a thread for this, I've been doing it too.

Oct 1. Mama
Very creative ghost story with an interesting creature design and stirring emotional story. I adored this movie.

Oct 2. Goke: Body Snatcher From Hell
A trippy Japanese thriller about the survivors of a plane crash with a dizzying array of hidden agendas and interpersonal dramas, trying to work together to fight off an invasion of alien goo that turns people into vampires. This movie is what happens when Night of the Living Dead takes LSD. Very crazy stuff, lots of fun.

Oct. 3. Dead And Buried.
Pretty plodding and by the numbers until the last half hour when it suddenly decides to become a much more interesting and dynamic movie. Lots of fun Stan Winston effects, and some not so fun not Stan Winston effects. Jack Albertson steals the show playing a crotchety mortician who is obviously the guy reanimating the dead from minute one.

Oct. 4 Satan's Princess
I had never heard of this movie, and now I understand why. The less said about it, the better.

And tonight: FROM BEYOND.
I will report back with my findings.

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.
Finally got caught up this weekend.

Movie 2: Tales from The crypt (1972)

I believe this British film is the first time that the classic EC comics were adapted for the big screen. This is an anthology film and it features 5 stories overall. A few were adapted or modified for the 90s TV series. The top segment is the opener, and it's the story of a woman who kills her husband. Meanwhile, an escaped lunatic is on the loose, and he's dressed as Santa. These stories all involve terrible people facing ironic punishments for their terrible actions. Despite the formula being the same each time, it's never boring. I can't really say it's scary either though. This is a recommended movie, especially if you're into anthology horror or EC comics.

This can easily be found on YouTube, but if you're a fan of this type of movie it is available for sale in a 2 pack with The Vault of Horror and the 2 pack is getting an HD release later this year.


Movie 3: Annabelle (2014)

I'm one of the biggest advocates of The Conjuring on these boards - I think it's one of the scariest films in years. I had some reservations about this spin-off, but I was still looking forward to it. I ended up being fairly disappointed. It's a bit of a slow build, and once the scares do start happening, they're not as effective as the Conjuring's were. I don't feel this one captures the right atmosphere, and the director isn't able to amp up the tension in this one. Vargo gave credit to the score for this in his front page review, but I thought it was a bit annoying. With that said, there is one scene involving the main character (Mia) going to her storage locker in the basement that was very effective with the audience. If you really wanted to see this one, you've probably already gone to the theater. If you're on the fence, I'd recommend waiting until this hits Netflix or VOD.



Movie 4: The Haunting (1999)

First time viewing for me. I'm not really a fan of the original version, and I didn't find this one to be good either. There was a weird color scheme in this movie that was far too bright to create a scary atmosphere. The CGI effects weren't bad for the time, but they didn't look like the belonged in a horror movie aimed at anyone over 12. Some weird directorial choices here too, as poo poo starts hitting the fan but the characters don't seem to react right away. Don't bother with this one if you haven't seen it.

Movie 5: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

gently caress yes I was so happy when the blu ray of this arrived. I wanted to wait until October before watching it though. This movie is essential horror, and you really need to see it if you haven't already. This movie has such a sense of dread throughout, and everything is so brutal. We don't have long, drawn out death scenes. Leatherface does not waste any time. What's really amazing about this one is how quickly everything goes down. Once the first person is killed, we're down to our final girl within about 20 minutes. This film has my favorite final shot in a horror film too.

Justin Godscock
Oct 12, 2004

Listen here, funnyman!
Alright, so far

1) V/H/S/2 (2013)
2) The Exorcist (1973)

And now,

3) You're Next (2011) - Eh, slashers like these are the reason why The Cabin in the Woods was made. It tried to do something new, didn't work for me in terms of the twists, and just felt hollow :spooky:.5/4

4) Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) - This movie sucked and this comes from someone who actually defends the 2006 Silent Hill film from time to time (it had a good setting, mood and had its moments even if the story was kinda crummy). Imagine if the imagery or mood of the 06 film was ruined by a total lack of tension and lovely 3D gimmickry (it felt like Friday Part 3 at times in how obvious it was) and still had the mediocre story of the 06 film. 0.5:spooky:/4

Let's see if Netflix has anything better for me tonight.

Shoombo
Jan 1, 2013
Uhh..., I somehow got a day ahead, I guess?

October 5th (again), The Den: I've been hearing people on here talk this movie up quite a bit, and I figured it was time to watch it before I peaked at any more spoilers. I'm glad I did, this is a rough movie. I really enjoyed the V/H/S segment that was told over a video chat, so I was really happy to see another movie in that style. This is way more brutal than that short, and in all honesty much better made. I had trouble watching parts of this, but I think it's all worth it. I agree with others who defended the ending for contextualizing the whole thing, but I also think I would have been fine with the movie leaving more of a mystery.

Darthemed
Oct 28, 2007

"A data unit?
For me?
"




College Slice


The Dunwich Horror (1970) is not a particularly good movie, but I have a soft spot for it. An occult soft-sexploitation flick from Roger Corman featuring Sandra Dee and Dean Stockwell, it plays fast and loose with the source material, like all filmed Lovecraft adaptations. Instead of appearing to be part crocodile with extra body parts, Wilbur is heavily tattooed, for example. My favorite parts are when the film tries to incorporate psychedelia (as with the near-strobing color saturation during a monster attack, or Dee's character's hill-altar hallucinations); it suffers when it tries to follow a coherent narrative. The resolution just sort of happens, without much preamble, and there's an entirely pointless loose thread left hanging for a possible sequel. The score isn't too bad, managing a memorable main theme with some druidic flavor, but it doesn't rise too far above the average level of an American International picture. Campy and enthusiastic enough to be kind of fun, aside from Wilbur's inclination towards rape.

Franco Potente
Jul 9, 2010
I know You're Next is a pretty contentious film around these parts, but I count myself as one of its fans, especially for showing it to non-horror fans. I love the build-up and the way the family comedy is interspersed with the tension, and Sharni Vinson is a great lead character. I've seen the movie about four or five times now, and it never gets tiresome for me. Considering I really don't like movies like The Den, I think my tastes in horror may run different from a lot of people in the forum.

Leper Residue
Sep 28, 2003

To where no dog has gone before.
The 3rd and 4th were The Walking Dead season 4. If everyone can do Penny Dreadful, Walking Dead should count.

Tonight was the Carrie 2013 remake. Like a lot of remakes, it seemed too afraid to do it's own thing, changing things that didn't need to be changed, keeping things that didn't need to be kept. The original is a tough act to follow. Chloe Grace Moretz did a well enough job, she was pretty rough in some spots(she's still a kid so that doesn't bother me too much), but thought she was great in others like when dealing with her mom. Who unfortunately I didn't really like Julianne Moore that much, but I think that's cause she had to compete with Patricia Clarkson, who just nailed it so she really didn't have a chance.

I do have to wonder if I hadn't just seen the original (or never) if my opinion may have been better of it?

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.


- V/H/S (2012)
- V/H/S 2 (2013)
- Sinister (2012)
- Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011)
- State Of Emergency (2011)
- We Are What We Are (2013)
1) Insidious (2010)
2) Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
3) Enter Nowhere (2011)


October 5th - "Tell Me Where It Hurts"


I had to play catchup tonight and decided to theme things a bit when I saw I had The Nurse on my DVR and made the connection in my head. The Nurse (3D, but not in 3D) was a pretty mindless, trashy slasher that seemed like it was going for campy or schlocky or good humored but didn't have much a sense of humor. Its not that it took itself too seriously or told jokes that didn't land, it just walked some kind of weird line between camp and straight slasher that made it feel oddly in the middle and not very good at either one. It wasn't the worst thing I've seen and the truth is I'm not really a slash and gore fan so I could see how a fan of the style would enjoy it more. But I think good art works or doesn't work and this didn't. C- at best.

Although there was something genuinely entertaining about the final(ish) sequence when Abby just goes on a ridiculous murder spree through the hospital. Just the sheer absurdity of it and manic energy had my eyes wide open and jaw dropped. And there was something inspired about her making such a clusterfuck of bodies and blood that she was able to escape by camouflaging herself as one of her victims. Too bad it took until the end of the film for me to get interested (which feels like the same thing I said about Enter Nowhere).

I had bigger hopes for American Mary and while it wasn't a great movie it was definitely better. Better acted, better story, better looking. There's a really tense tone to the first half as Mary finds herself quickly falling down the rabbit hole of sketchiness from following Craig's List and I didn't really expect it to turn into a rape revenge film so I was horrified when it went there. Then Mary breaks and its pretty interesting watching, I just wish the movie had shown a little more of that. There's three clear acts of the film and I enjoyed all three but I felt that they rushed too quickly between each act and it ended up making those major moments feel a little empty. Especially the end. That just didn't feel very earned, although I'm totally ok with it on paper. It should have just been set up a little better.

And I kind of loved the sympathetic goon and whole Billy subplot. This psychopath who is falling for this newly developing psychopath over their shared love of blood and torture objects. And then her reciprocating over the "romantic" gesture of Billy murdering one of her rapists for her, which of course leads to the deeply romantic scaring the poo poo out of the girl she caught blowing him. I just really enjoyed that story, especially how it ended with Billy basically longing to get away from this poo poo and catch his breath with some normalcy and Mary immediately being bored to tears over it and being over him because she'd just been completely broken. Its very well crafted how the two sketchy guys who are the first sketchy people Mary meets in this world ultimately end up being the sane barometers for her fall into madness.

This was a good film that I think could have been great. I've heard of the Soska Sisters but never seen anything they did (or seen them) so its not to put something to the name. Considering it was their first real film out of school I think that bodes well for future work.

All in all, as I said I'm not a big slash and gore fan so these movies weren't my exact cup of tea but I enjoyed the themed night and Mary delivered as an enjoyable viewing. I'm going to try and do more themed double billings like this going forward on nights I have the time and interest to put two films in.

But I'm not realizing I haven't watched a movie made before 2010 which is odd, so I may have to dig back a little tomorrow and maybe watch an unseen classic or something from one of those multiple old movie packages I have.

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Oct 6, 2014

MachineryNoise
Jan 13, 2008

So I shout "Set your life on fire!"
October 4th: Shatter Dead (1994)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111159/

The dead have risen, and all they seem to want is to get back to their lives. Society isn't taking this too well, and our heroine is having a particularly bad day as she tries to get to her boyfriend's place.
I feel conflicted on this one. On the one hand, the acting is stilted and the effects look like crap. On the other hand, it's trying so hard to be original. This wasn't just thrown together within a week, actual effort went into it. I don't know if that effort really paid off, and I don't know if I enjoyed it all that much, but I can't bring myself to hate it.

October 5th: Would You Rather (2012)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1999995/

Jeffrey Combs plays a crazy rich rear end in a top hat who gets a bunch of people to torture/maim/kill each other under threat of death, promising the last man standing a great deal of money to aid their problems.
The way the story unfolds is pretty predictable, but it manages to have some tension at times, and Combs was clearly having fun hamming it up as the villain. I also thought it was sort of funny how the villain's son just gets kicked out of the movie two-thirds into it. You go to your room and think about what you did, young man! All in all, it was decent enough.

Jigoku
Apr 5, 2009

Just saw Body Parts.

I totally thought this would be a mindless slasher where a guy was killing people without knowing it. This was much more elaborate with a higher budget than I figured.

Rather than going that route, this film was an interesting overarching mystery with subcontext of whether or not the soul could be transferred through the flesh.

I don't think it is a must watch but the movie was rather interesting. Since I have been watching slashers, I probably would have enjoyed my version better rather than the strange sci-fi thing it is. However, I love body horror and it definitely has that going for it.

A weird aside: I haven't seen much Jeff Fahey, but I found that much like Christian Slater's whole face his soulless light blue eyes was slightly disturbing and distracting while watching this film. He looks like a bizarro William Petersen.

Jigoku fucked around with this message at 09:18 on Oct 6, 2014

Untrustable
Mar 17, 2009





Finally found this drat thread. I'm already off to a good start this year.

Oct. 1st Event Horizon
I really liked this movie, its like Dead Space mixed with Ghost Ship and actually scared me quite a bit.

Oct. 2nd Wishmaster
I can't sing he praises of Andrew Divoff enough. Hes probably picking bits of scenery out of his teeth to this day.

Oct. 3rd Rigor Mortis
A strange movie from China about the jiangshe (sp?). It was entertaining enough but I think some of the plot was lost in translation. Also a bunch of weird shoehorned in kung fu.

Oct. 4th House on Haunted Hill (1959)
I haven't watched a ton of older horror movies but after watching this I understand why its called a classic by some. Vincent Price hamming it up and some actually solid scares.

Oct. 5th Wishmaster 2
I will follow you to the ends of the earth Andrew Divoff. It mixes it up and manages to make the evil djinn from the first film almost an antihero by putting him in a prison with human beings more deplorable than him all in all solid fun, I'll be skipping the other 2 sequels for obvious reasons.

Dr.Caligari
May 5, 2005

"Here's a big, beautiful avatar for someone"

Lurdiak posted:

Tonight's features are:



An American Werewolf in Paris


I joined the fella's to watch this last night, and holy smokes is it bad. If you are, for some reason, nostalgic for the 90s, then this should fit the bill. An overload of 90s fashion, schtick and CGI , all wrapped up in a package with a plot and characters you won't care about. The goon chat made it fun however and I'm looking forward to joining the 'scream stream' again.

Torso- An especially smutty giallo, but otherwise run of the mill. Has some decent scenes and tension toward the end, but nothing groundbreaking. As with many other movies of this type, the victims seem to have absolutely zero interest in saving themselves from the killer by doing things like, you know, running or attempting to fight.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty

STAC Goat posted:

American Mary

I caught this a week and a half ago, so I can't count it in good faith towards my 31, but man was it disappointing to me. I expected some big dark body horror craziness based on how people I know lose their poo poo over it, but what I got was a seeming homage to 90's skinamax, but more chaste, with a slightly more special effects laden hook. I half expected Mickey Rourke to pop up at one point. I suppose the fact that I sandwiched it in-between Errors of the Human Body and Antiviral, two much more graphic and disturbing body horror films didn't help my perspective.

Anyways, on to the list.

#1. Half-Caste (2004)

#2. Grim (1995)

#3 The Host (2006)


#4 Paranorman (2012)

Norman isn't like other children--he has the ability to see and communicate with the dead. Unfortunately, beyond simply being labeled a freak, he also is unfortunate enough to live in a town in which legends speak of a witch's curse to make them walk in more physical forms, and he's the only one with the power to stop it...

This animated film impressed me, I'll admit it. It's shockingly mature and dark for a PG film, and it really hugs the line to PG-13 close. The climax of the film has genuinely frightening imagery. and the subject matter is jet-black, dealing with death, murder, and the ways we deal with fear and regret. Really worth seeing, even if you're not a kid.

It gets the full :spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky::spooky:/5

#5 Maniac Cop II (1990)

Robert Z'Dar returns as a sorta zombified evil cop, out to get revenge on those that wronged him, both in the system and out. His morals are getting more confused as he befriends a local serial killer and they go on a rampage together.

Despite the lean plot, this movie was all kinds of fun, placing it squarely in the realm of late 80's slashers. The film somehow improves on the lunacy of the first film, and has a plot where there seems to be zero thinking actually going on. The New York grime that both Larry Cohen and Bill Lustig bring to the table is definitely here, though in lesser amounts than their past bodies of work. It was a perfect palate cleanser for me. Thanks to Lurdiak for his stream last night aiding me in my attempt to meet the challenge!

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

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer
So far:

1st: Nightmare Factory
2nd: The Town That Dreaded Sundown
3rd: Shivers

October 4th: The ABC's of Death

I let my roommate pick the next movie, as long as it was something that I hadn't seen. He watched it about a year ago and really liked it, so I agreed. Like most anthology movies, it seems very polarizing. I liked it, but it makes me wonder how many of the directors bounced ideas off of each other. There is a constant theme of fecal humor throughout. There are whole stories based around farts and poo poo. It was bizarre. I'm a fan of Adam Wingard, and his short delivers. The first few shorts delivered as well. There was little budget, and they only have 3 minutes or so to deliver the concept. Some of them, like A, C, and E really deliver. Some of them, like D, are more about atmosphere and execution, which was fun. I really like Ti West, but his short, M, was like a lame one-hit joke that was based more on shock value than anything. It's such a hit and miss movie, it's hard not to recommend it, because there's something there for everyone. Unless you dislike jokes about poo poo and farts. I'd rewatch it in a few years, but it's not a yearly staple.

:spooky::spooky:.5/5 (I hate using a half, but it really doesn't deserve 3)


October 5th: Re-Animator

The first movie of the month that I've seen before. This is an absolute classic, and it gets better every time. Jeffrey Combs delivers in every scene. The special effects are great, but the sound design is what makes the movie, especially when any gore is involved. My roommate had been drinking when we watched it, and he had to leave to go vomit. It's a movie made with a lot of love and every actor has so much fun hamming it up. If you've never seen it, you're doing yourself a disservice.

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

Lurdiak posted:



An American Werewolf in Paris

Werewolves are my favorite movie monster. I have a vivid memory of being 6 years old and seeing the trailer for this movie (which was odd, because it couldn't have been in theaters for long). I remember the trailer ends with a huge black pit and the werewolf leaping from the depths towards the viewer, and it scared the gently caress out of me. There were many moments in my childhood of seeing a dark hallway and just knowing that a huge werewolf would step out from around the corner and I would have nowhere to run.

Then I watched it when I was a teenager and saw it was a really poo poo film.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe
Last time I posted I had Body Bags on the list, but I had never seen it yet. I watched it yesterday for the first time.

I had no idea Carpenter actually had a major part, playing the Cryptkeeper-type host in the wrap-around segments. That was an unexpected treat, and there were several more horror movie director cameos, so that alone makes this great Halloweentime viewing. My favorite of the three stories ended up being the second, where Stacey Keach is desperate to avoid going bald, so he ends up falling victim to alien parasites posing as a hair transplant operation. In general there isn't a whole lot of gore in these stories, they rely a lot more on interesting characters and a really strong cast. David Warner plays the creepy transplant doctor, and Mark Hamill also does a really good job in the third story. Overall a very solid anthology.

Nemesis Of Moles
Jul 25, 2007

Last night was another Bonus Night and we watched Horns. It kinda felt almost like Drag Me To Hell, in that it was taking an absurd concept with some inherent levity and playing it as straight as it could. Kind of confusing in parts and I'm not convinced it was a great film, but a lot of fun and pretty emotionally touching in places.

flashy_mcflash
Feb 7, 2011

Oct 3: Detention
Somewhat enjoyable though a little too far up its own rear end. Too stylized, too derivative in a way that I didn't like, but it's possible I wasn't in the mood for it.


Oct 4: ABC's of Death 2
Sigh. I didn't like the first installment of this anthology but had hope that with a better slate of directors, the second would connect better with me. Nope. 26 segments is way too many, and I can't imagine this is an enjoyable theatre experience. If you must watch this, get it for home viewing and watch a couple at a time. You'll never retain or appreciate more than half of them if you watch it all at a clip. This concept is incredibly flawed but there's a few good segments in here.

Oct 5: Inland Empire
Probably one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, Laura Dern practically reaches through the screen and throttles you with her performance here. It's a bit too long but is still remarkably effective.

Tonight is either Open Windows or maybe Horns.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe

flashy_mcflash posted:

Oct 4: ABC's of Death 2
Sigh. I didn't like the first installment of this anthology but had hope that with a better slate of directors, the second would connect better with me. Nope. 26 segments is way too many, and I can't imagine this is an enjoyable theatre experience. If you must watch this, get it for home viewing and watch a couple at a time. You'll never retain or appreciate more than half of them if you watch it all at a clip. This concept is incredibly flawed but there's a few good segments in here.

I've watched a bunch of anthologies this week and I think I've decided that the magic number is 5. Each story gets 15-25 minutes and if you have one that is a little weak it doesn't have enough time to bring the rest down. I think because of this I have changed my mind and decided that I like Creepshow better than Creepshow 2.

flashy_mcflash
Feb 7, 2011

Basebf555 posted:

I've watched a bunch of anthologies this week and I think I've decided that the magic number is 5. Each story gets 15-25 minutes and if you have one that is a little weak it doesn't have enough time to bring the rest down. I think because of this I have changed my mind and decided that I like Creepshow better than Creepshow 2.

Four to five definitely sounds like the sweet spot. More than that and things start to get muddled, rushed, and without emphasis and less, as you say, means that the inevitable one weak segment makes up a full third of the film.

Maybe I'm just watching ABC's wrong though. Thinking about it today, it could be a good thing to have on in the background of a Halloween party. 26 is short enough that someone could sit and pay attention to one or two segments and the shorts are visually interesting/gory enough to catch your eye. This probably isn't the intention of the creators but it's the only real way I can think of to enjoy ABC's.

Amber Sweet
Apr 30, 2009
I'm a bit late with this but I figured, why the hell not? I'm a huge horror fan and I'm always looking for an excuse to binge watch horror, and what better month to do that than October?

I started the month off with one I've never seen before but had little expectations of, Apollo 18 (2011). I give it a hearty "meh." It wasn't terrible, I loved the tension and atmosphere. But I felt the "monsters" were far too vague, and the payoff wasn't satisfying at all. I did find it fairly interesting though and I had a fun time watching it. I felt it was pretty unique to the "found footage" genre, so it kept my interest.

October 2nd I watched The Innocents (1961). Man, what a movie!! I gotta say, the beginning didn't give me high hopes (I thought the whole thing sounded a little forced.. the kids were FAR too well spoken, I mean did kids ever really talk like that? The little boy calls people "my dear"...) But anyway, it was awesome. I really, really liked it. I loved how there was no bickering about what was going on, Ms. Gibbons jumps right to "they're clearly evil" only moments after I thought the same thing (even though I also thought the maid was evil but apparently she wasn't). The ending was superb (although my friend was like WTF ITS OVER? THATS THE END? NO WAY) but in hindsight I thought it was a really solid ending.

Next up was my personal favorite "found footage" movie, Grave Encounters (2011). I really can't say enough about this movie. It has generally bad reviews so it may be my soft spot for both found footage style movies AND ghosts (drat I loving love ghost stuff), but it is hands down my absolute favorite of this genre. AND it scared the loving poo poo out of me, even on the second watch. I felt it was very convincing of its "Paranormal Investigation Show," I've watched tons of Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted, and it follows the same formula very well. When the going gets good, I felt the characters reactions were on point and genuine. Most of all though, it really scared me. The whole film gives off a very claustrophobic feeling and the tension is spot on. So if you're a fan of found footage paranormal movies, I really can't recommend Grave Encounters enough.

For the next movie I went with something a bit different, Dark Water (2002). The original Japanese version, not the US remake. Like most Japanese horror, this movie was pretty drat slow moving to me. I mean, it wasn't BAD... I enjoyed it, but the pacing was slow and the scares pretty minimal. Great atmosphere and pretty solid plot, but I found myself kind of bored in between the interesting scenes. I did however, very much enjoy the ending and thought that was pretty clever.

Okay I admit.. the next movie I stopped watching halfway through because I hated it so much. I was really not a fan of Megan is Missing (2011). I felt it wholly unbelievable throughout the whole thing. The beginning was disturbing and not in the fun way. Listening to Megan tell the story of her first sexual encounter of her getting sexually molested at summer camp when she was 11, and her not understanding the fact she was abused sickened me, and honestly this isn't the type of horror I'm up for. The whole thing felt forced and very much like an over the top and exaggerated warning of the "dangers of the internet." I just... really disliked it. Didn't enjoy.

Thats it so far!

I have a bad tendency to stick to mostly paranormal horror, because its what I enjoy most, so I'm trying to keep my movies this month more varied than I usually try. I'm definitely gonna try to watch all the Friday 13ths (I've only ever seen the first) and Nightmare on Elm Street, just because.. you know, I consider myself a horror fan but I've never seen either of these series and they seem like must-sees. Also gonna try to stick in a lot of the Living Dead series because I haven't seen a lot of those either.

Anyone have any recs for the best ones in all of these series? I won't be able to watch them all so I'd rather gloss over the particularly bad ones.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe

flashy_mcflash posted:

Four to five definitely sounds like the sweet spot. More than that and things start to get muddled, rushed, and without emphasis and less, as you say, means that the inevitable one weak segment makes up a full third of the film.

Maybe I'm just watching ABC's wrong though. Thinking about it today, it could be a good thing to have on in the background of a Halloween party. 26 is short enough that someone could sit and pay attention to one or two segments and the shorts are visually interesting/gory enough to catch your eye. This probably isn't the intention of the creators but it's the only real way I can think of to enjoy ABC's.

Eh, I still don't even think there's enough good stuff in the 26 segments for it to be worthwhile at a Halloween party. Better just to have a few Michael Myers entries and maybe some Jason or Freddy on hand to play in the background, at least for my age group. Too many of the segments are just a minute or two of boring building up for no payoff, or even worse the payoff is a terrible joke that isn't at all funny.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

Amber Sweet posted:

I'm definitely gonna try to watch all the Friday 13ths (I've only ever seen the first) and Nightmare on Elm Street, just because.. you know, I consider myself a horror fan but I've never seen either of these series and they seem like must-sees. Also gonna try to stick in a lot of the Living Dead series because I haven't seen a lot of those either.

Anyone have any recs for the best ones in all of these series? I won't be able to watch them all so I'd rather gloss over the particularly bad ones.

For Friday the 13th, my personal favorites are: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 6, Freddy Vs. Jason, and the remake. Part 3 and 5 are really fun, but they are different. Part 5 has some of the craziest death scenes. Part 3 has some of the more memorable characters (like Shelly, who is basically a Goon, and the stoners), but some people find the 3D gimmick distracting. Part 2 and 4 are equally my favorite sequel.

Freddy Vs. Jason is interesting. I watched it again a few months ago, and the director, Ronny Yu, used his Chinese influence big time: Freddy and Jason are both elemental forces of evil. Freddy fears fire, and Jason fears water. It's a clash between these two spirits, and the people are pawns in their game. A lot of the violence is stylized and over-the-top (Ronny Yu has an anecdote where they asked him how much blood he wanted in the movie. Since he had free reign, he said "Barrels. Barrels and barrels."). It's not my favorite in either series, but it's an interested interpretation of the characters and it's very fun.

Nightmare on Elm Street: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, New Nightmare. A lot of people like Part 2, but I'm not in that camp. Part 5 has a very disturbing scene of Freddy's origin, but the movie starts falling apart quickly. The Nightmare series has this amazing opportunity to look into the psyche's of the characters and use their fears/subconscious/memories as fear tactics in their dreams. There isn't a single one in the series that capitalizes on this, but the three I like get close to this. Part 3 is my favorite sequel. Avoid the remake.

Both series have documentaries about the cultural impact and the making of the movies. Crystal Lake Memories is good, but Never Sleep Again is fantastic. Don't be intimidated by the 4 hour length. It flies by and never drags.

You really should watch all of the sequels, though. Each one has it's own merits, and they're all watchable.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe

Franchescanado posted:

Freddy Vs. Jason is interesting. I watched it again a few months ago, and the director, Ronny Yu, used his Chinese influence big time: Freddy and Jason are both elemental forces of evil. Freddy fears fire, and Jason fears water. It's a clash between these two spirits, and the people are pawns in their game. A lot of the violence is stylized and over-the-top (Ronny Yu has an anecdote where they asked him how much blood he wanted in the movie. Since he had free reign, he said "Barrels. Barrels and barrels."). It's not my favorite in either series, but it's an interested interpretation of the characters and it's very fun.


I think the most important part of what works about Freddy vs. Jason is that they actually somehow managed to come up with a premise that doesn't sound stupid and like a dumb excuse to get them to fight. The idea that Freddy's power can be taken away by forgetting about him was already established in the Nightmare series, and Jason had already become a supernatural/immortal being, so it made sense that Freddy could somehow bring him back and use him. If you're a fan of both series the whole thing really does make perfect sense, which is kind of a crazy thing to say about a monster mash-up movie like Freddy vs. Jason.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

Basebf555 posted:

I think the most important part of what works about Freddy vs. Jason is that they actually somehow managed to come up with a premise that doesn't sound stupid and like a dumb excuse to get them to fight. The idea that Freddy's power can be taken away by forgetting about him was already established in the Nightmare series, and Jason had already become a supernatural/immortal being, so it made sense that Freddy could somehow bring him back and use him. If you're a fan of both series the whole thing really does make perfect sense, which is kind of a crazy thing to say about a monster mash-up movie like Freddy vs. Jason.

I do have a sperg moment about FvJ, though. They make a big deal about Jason being afraid of water, it's his weakness. However, I believe there are several deaths throughout the Friday series that involves Jason swimming and killing someone in the water. For a movie that gets pretty much everything right, that bothers me. That, and a major plot point is two characters fell in love when they were 14, but it's okay, because "What we had was real".

But yes, I enjoy that the plot is logical, especially when you hear all of the lovely ideas they had beforehand.

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Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
Regarding Dark Water, this may sound crazy, but I would say it's the one case in the post-Ringu world where the US remake is better than the Asian original. It maintains the claustrophobic tone of the original, while handling the other "mundane" part of the story much better, to the point that you end up actually caring about it even more. It doesn't hurt that the cast knocks it out of the park though. I'd recommend it, but don't expect big scares.

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