Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

I think the original does a great job playing with the killer doll idea and being a pretty straight and surprising tense and scary horror. But I also think 2 is a lot of fun as like the platonic ideal Chucky slasher film.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

M_Sinistrari
Sep 5, 2008

Do you like scary movies?




9) Who Slew Auntie Roo? - Prime - 1972

When I first saw this when I was a pre-teen, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Sitting through it when I was older and it's an odd one. Reviews keep calling it a retelling of Hansel & Gretel, but that's more of a maybe and if you tilt your head to look at it a certain way.

Plot's centered around widow Rosie Forrest who's lost her young daughter in an accident. She holds a big Christmas party for the local orphans, and she also sings lullabies to her mummified daughter upstairs. She's also being preyed upon by a charlatan psychic and her butler about contacting her dead daughter.

This time at the Christmas party, there's a couple stowaways tagging along with the ten best behaved from the orphanage. Instead of sending the brother and sister back, Auntie Roo insists on them staying because the little girl strongly resembles her dead daughter. This is not going to end well by any stretch.

My take on this is the little boy, Christopher is the real monster here. While the orphanage has written him off as a congenital liar with a wild imagination, and life at the orphanage has to be pretty poo poo from the get go, it's Christopher who pushes the idea Auntie Roo's a witch going to eat them. Even when it turns out the preparation for a big fireup in the kitchen's for a pig roast, Christopher pushes that after they cooked the pig, they were going to be next. He's pleased about the fire he starts that kills Auntie Roo, and he and his sister gets away with the jewelry they stole from her.

The cast here's mostly okay, though Shelley Winters completely knocks it out of the ball park. Recently I learned that during the filming of this movie she was going through a nervous breakdown, so I wonder how much of her personal pain she channeled through her acting for this one.

Overall, the movie's good. I'd be quicker to call it House of Issues than a retelling of Hansel & Gretel. I'd put it in a marathon with What Happened to Baby Jane and What's the Matter with Helen.

Though for how many times I've sat through this one, I still have one question: What happened with Auntie Roo's cat?

Chris James 2
Aug 9, 2012


10. Eyes Without a Face

HBO Max, Criterion Channel

"The future is something we should have started on long ago"

A beautiful woman whose life, and image, is forever changed by an accident. A doctor that keeps asking for trust when he doesn't even have it for himself. A lab assistant/accomplice/former patient/possible girlfriend (never elaborated on just how far her role goes, and frankly it's not necessary, as it's established there's no limit to what she'll do for continued success in face transplants)

Good dogs locked up for no purpose. Cops that don't really do cop stuff, making them among the best film cops I've seen in a while. A grieving fiance who doesn't really have time to grieve, doesn't have real reason to, and is too busy working for the man keeping the secret (and his bride-to-be)

A powerful first reveal of the star facing the camera. Disturbing for the time, and for now, face-removal sequence. Amazing soundtrack and cinematography. A gorgeous and memorable final scene. A well-deserved spot in the Criterion Collection

The "good for her" cinematic universe continues to be the best

*****

10/13 (The New York Ripper, Gwen, Sleepless Beauty, The Head Hunter, 13: Game of Death, Deerskin, Curve, The Incredible Melting Man, Starry Eyes, Eyes Without a Face)

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.


13 (16). On the Silver Globe (1988)
Written and directed by Andrzej Żuławski, adapted from a 1903 novel by his granduncle Jerzy Żuławski.
Watched on Deb’s Bracketology Stream.


I dunno. I didn't get it.

I mean I get large chunks of it, many parts, the vague idea. There's some great shots, some great costuming and makeup. I think its clear Żuławski did what he set out to do with it, and his granduncle's story, besides the scenes he was unable to film. The folks I watched it with certainly loved it and were transfixed. I was not. I don't think that's because of any real flaws. Some commented that they couldn't really fully follow the plot, but I just don't think the plot was fully followable. Part of that was the missing scenes and the inadequate choice of reading summaries for them over random footage. That was disorientating. But to some extent I just think the plot was very loose and its basic premise of magical, nonsensical evolutionary and societal (and in some cases technological) time jumps was just far too broad to really hold together for as long as this film demanded it to. There's no making sense of parts of the story's development because the development just doesn't make sense. But I don't think that was rally a concern of the film. The artistry of it was elsewhere and judging from the general responses of the people I watched it with it largely worked with its intended crowd.

Unfortunately I wasn't one of them. Arthouse isn't really my thing and loose storytelling has a limit for me. For a good while I was going with it and appreciating what it had to offer on some level, but its a nearly 3 hour film with three pronounced acts that move very wildly through non existent scenes. And as it went on my appreciation gradually faded, my grasp of what was happening gradually loosened, and I just kind of checked out. It was just too much and I spent the last 45 minutes or so of the film just kind of annoyed that it wasn't over yet. Again, not sure it speaks to true flaws of what the film intended (at least avoidable ones), but more to tastes and the extent to which someone can stretch themselves.

So I kinda hated it. But I don't think it was "bad". Obviously in some way I think it was good and in other ways others loved it. So it feels like it falls firmly into my 2 star "not my thing but I get why you like it" category.




14 (17). The Phantom of the Opera (1998)
Directed by Dario Argento, Screenplay by Argento, Gérard Brach, and Giorgina Caspari (English adaptation), Based on Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux
Watched on Deb’s Bracketology Stream.


Was that a bad film? Unquestionably. Did I have a great time watching it? Absolutely.

I get what everyone thinks are the problems with this film. Dario Argento is known for making gorgeous, gorey, violent, sexy horror films and this is a weird, trashy, ugly film that looks cheap and stars his daughter in the most unerotic scenes imaginable. Which when you really think about it, as messed up as it is that he made the choice to sexualize his daughter at least its kind of a relief he's so drat bad at it. Besides that this is also Phantom of the Opera. An elegant, operatic, theatrical, musical classic that has been done again and again with grandiose and flourish. So you see "Dario Argento's Phantom of the Opera" and you draw some pretty fair expectation. And this film fails ALL of those.

But that's not really its problem.

There's this thing you see a lot with hated films where people say "no one gets it, its satire." And sometimes that might be true, and sometimes it might not be, and sometimes it is satire but if no one got it then you probably hosed up. I even see that in a few reviews about this film. But this isn't a satire, its a parody. To me I can clearly see what Argento is shooting for here and that's "Mel Brooks." Argento is trying so hard to be Brooks here that a couple of times he straight up steals gags like the mole one. To me its clear that Argento's trying to do something he's never really done and make a parody to fit the times. The problem is he isn't funny.

I mean some of the jokes are very funny. At quite a few times I was cracking up at the sheer absurdity of what was happening. And you can't tell me that wasn't intentional. So much here is so obviously over the top and absurd that it only makes sense if you view this movie as a comedy. If you think this is a straight telling than half of the film makes no sense. There's a scene with a bunch of people trapped on a rat trap. That's clearly a joke.

But jokes aren't just setups and punchlines. They're tone and timing. We all know people who think they're funny and they're not. It can be painful. And Argento isn't funny. Some of his cast is. Some of the scenes and effects are. Many of situations are. But the whole doesn't work because its off. Its playing things just a touch too straight and creating a weird tonal disconnect. Argento's still Argento and a lot of his film is still in his voice. And when an unfunny person tells a joke very dryly, sometimes stuff gets lost in translation. Sometimes it doesn't even sound like a joke.

Still, despite its many, many flaws I really had a great time. A lot of that is definitely down to watching it with a group. We were able to laugh at the bad stuff and entertain ourselves before the next big legitimate laugh came. And there were a lot of them. Argento did do a good job adapting his gore and effects game to the comedy by just going so far over the top and aiming for the absurd. But the film also makes no sense. Characters kind of come and go randomly and their motivations and feelings change on a dime. It felt like Argento took the basic Phantom story, wrote up a bunch of changes and gags, and then just kept the outline intact without actually resolving anything. So the end of Phantom calls for Raoul to go save his love Christine. So that happens. Even though Raoul's been played off as a joke all film and Christine has shown no interest in him and tons of interest in the Phantom. And then the Phantom has to romantically sacrifice himself so... now she loves him again? And he wants Raoul to save her. From who? What's going on? Argento doesn't seem overly concerned that none of this makes sense because he's there for the silly rat jokes. Which are funny! But the rest is weird.

And that's basically it. Funny, but weird. Intentional, but off. Argento tried something and while he didn't miss completely, he did ultimately miss. Still, I had a great time. Maybe I wouldn't have in a different setting but I did this time.



🌻🎈Spook-A-Doodle Half-Way-To-Halloween ’21: Return of the Fallen & King Spring🎈🌻
King Spring: 4/13
Return of the Fallen: 4/13

Watched - New (Total)
1. Riding the Bullet (2004); 2. Cat’s Eye (1985); - (3). Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020); - (4). The Thing (1982); 3 (5). Sleep Tight (2011); - (6). Dark Shadows (2012); 4 (7). The Wicker Man (1973); 5 (8). Varan (1958); 6 (9). The Roost (2005); 7 (10). The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007); 8 (11). The Leech Woman (1960); 9 (12). Sometimes They Come Back (1991); 10 (13). Varan the Unbelievable (1962); 11 (14). 1922 (2017); 12 (15). What Keeps You Alive (2018); 13 (16). On the Silver Globe (1988); 14 (17). The Phantom of the Opera (1998);

E.G.G.S.
Apr 15, 2006

10. Tremors (1990)
A fantastic creature feature that plays out how you wanted those 50s schlock movies to play - it graboids your attention immediately. Jaws in the desert.

:ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:.5 /5

Are any of the sequels good?

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

#10

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
John D. Hancock, 1971



Don't let the title or the poster fool you. This isn't schlock. It's a mature, atmospheric, technically excellent psychological horror film akin to Polanski's early work. Zohra Lampert plays Jessica, a kind, optimistic woman who recently suffered a mental breakdown and is attempting to reboot her life by moving with her husband and friend to a small town. They move into an old house with a sordid past and meet a girl named Emily, who they invite to live with them. Jessica begins seeing some scary things, and we're instantly in doubt whether it's real or in her mind. The film does a fantastic job maintaining ambiguity while still remaining tense and at times genuinely scary.

You can tell early on that Jessica is sort of a broken person. Lampert plays her beautifully. She's almost always smiling, yet there's a constant glimmer of desperation in her eyes. It's just a wonderful performance. The movie's oozing with atmosphere. Much like The Tenant, it keeps us in a constant state of unease without telling us exactly why. There's something not right. We get some clues and hints, but even if we think we've figured something out, the unstable mental state of our protagonist keeps us at arm's length from any grounded answers. It's mesmerizing and awesome.

This is one of my new favorite 70's horror films.

5/5



Films watched: 1. Witchfinder General (1968), 2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), 3. The Devil Rides Out (1968), 4. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), 5. Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), 6. The Raven (1935), 7. A Bucket of Blood (1959), 8. The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), 9. Hunter Hunter (2020), 10. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Chris James 2
Aug 9, 2012


11. In the Earth


“Photography is like magic. But then, so's all technology when you don't know how it works”

In the 4.5 months of 2021 so far, there surprisingly hasn't really been a lot of great horror in my opinion. I can only think of a handful I've really loved: Saint Maud, Violation, Psycho Goreman, and Son, and the most recent of those was still released over a month ago. Luckily, there's a new Ben Wheatley film to change that and add to the list

A scientist and a park ranger, continuing to work during a pandemic (because of course), try to re-establish contact with a former colleague who went into the woods for further cure research months ago and hasn't been seen or heard from since. A lot proceeds to happen, some of which could be explained in spoilers, some of which couldn't be

As someone who adored A Field in England, In the Earth felt comfortably at home. People tripping out amid nature, atmospheric as hell, hallucinations and flashing lights and psychedelic imagery, insanity ruling the day, the uncertainty that one can ever be the same, and the questioning of if one Should ever be the same for meddling with things they shouldn't be involved with. Let nature take its course and put trust in her; she deserves it more than we've been proven worthy of it

A Field in England and In the Earth are the only Ben Wheatley feature films I've seen (I keep meaning to give Kill List and Free Fire a try, but only saw half of Kill List at a friend's the one chance I actually had to view any of it, and I bought Free Fire very recently but wanted to see this first), and it's enough to have me hooked and wanting more. He keeps up this sense of dread past the point of feeling sustainable, and then when the release valve comes you're just left questioning what the gently caress. Sometimes there's nothing more to say. I loved A Field in England, and I love In the Earth. Give me more

*****

11/13 (The New York Ripper, Gwen, Sleepless Beauty, The Head Hunter, 13: Game of Death, Deerskin, Curve, The Incredible Melting Man, Starry Eyes, Eyes Without a Face, In the Earth)

Davros1
Jul 19, 2007

You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible



E.G.G.S. posted:

10. Tremors (1990)
A fantastic creature feature that plays out how you wanted those 50s schlock movies to play - it graboids your attention immediately. Jaws in the desert.

:ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:.5 /5

Are any of the sequels good?

Two and Three are fun and worth watching, despite lower budgets. Four (a prequel set in the old west) isn't bad. Anything after four is pure poo poo and should be avoided at all costs.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

I honestly find all the Tremors sequels kind of harmless fun. Not worth going out of your way for, but perfectly fine matinee favor. And they actually kind of hold continuity and tell some character stories, which is kind of nice. The most recent one actually kind of was surprisingly above their average.

gey muckle mowser
Aug 5, 2003

Do you know anything about...
witches?



Buglord


11. The Neon Demon (2016)
dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
blu-ray
(re-watch)

I liked this much better this time around than the first time I watched it. It's a gorgeous movie full of stunning shots, and Refn makes great use of stylish and colorful lighting. It's light on action but heavy on atmosphere, and the plot is rarely spelled out for us.

I still didn't love the ending. I think the first time around I didn't really understand what happened, and even though it made more sense to me this time it still felt unsatisfying. I could see myself giving this a 5/5 if things had played out differently, because I really loved the first 80-90% of the film, but the ending just left me cold.

4 mountain lions out of 5



12. The Day of the Beast (1995)
dir. Álex de la Iglesia
UHD

A Catholic priest deciphers an ancient code that reveals the date when the antichrist will be born. It's somewhere in Madrid on Christmas Eve, but he doesn't know the exact location. In order to find the child and kill it, he must commit as many sins as possible to seem evil, and then summon the Devil and trick him into revealing the birthplace. He teams up with a metalhead and a TV psychic to perform the ritual and save the world.

This was a blast! It's a clever and darkly funny inversion of the nativity story - three not especially wise men looking for the birthplace of the anti-savior on Christmas Eve. Álex Angulo is especially good as the priest, but everyone in the cast is solid.

Highly recommended!

4.5 tabs of LSD out of 5

Edgar Wright's Top 100 Horror: 96/100
Slant Top 100 Horror: 97/100
TSZDT 2020: 670/1000

Total: 12
Watched: White Zombie | M | Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter | The Demoniacs | The Addiction | The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) | The Queen of Black Magic (2019) | Warlock | Prince of Darkness | A Record of Sweet Murder | The Neon Demon | The Day of the Beast

Chris James 2
Aug 9, 2012


12. Macabre (1958)

Tubi

“I don't wanna be a wife, and I won't be a mom. I just wanna be what I've been all my life: nothing”

Things start with a small town, the richest man there losing his daughter (both his kids now buried in a short timespan), and the doctor who could have saved her being told in no uncertain terms to leave town but refusing, swearing he's not at fault. Evidently someone doesn't think so, as his own daughter is soon kidnapped and buried alive, with a short timespan to save her and a town full of, if not necessarily suspects, people that have still heard the stories and don't trust him (and can't be trusted) enough to help. Evidently things aren't that simple, as around half an hour in, flashback after flashback occurs, painting a more clear picture of the story

Hey, it's a William Castle film, you should have expected a few twists along the way. And gimmicks. Including a narrator begging you at the end to not spoil the film, like it wouldn't take half an hour just to try. And the same narrator at the beginning imploring you to help call paramedics if anyone you're with has a heart attack and comes close to death from watching the film. Apparently there was a gimmick at the theaters where you got a certificate for a life insurance policy with your ticket. Gotta love Castle. Credit where it's due, the big scare near the end kinda holds up upon first sight, would have been fun to see that part on a big screen in the fifties and heard the panic

Jim Backus, the rich guy on Gilligan's Island, plays Tyroe the hardass cop who makes it clear to the doctor he's gotta go while it's his own option to. I'm not as familiar with star William Prince, the aforementioned doctor, because he's in a bunch of stuff that's been on my watchlist forever like Spontaneous Combustion. They both do good jobs with the material. I also enjoyed some of Jacqueline Scott's performance as Polly, the doctor's assistant; and Christine White is great for the short time you get to see Nancy (she had a longer, more memorable role in the Nightmare at 20,000 Feet episode of Twilight Zone)

This is my long way of saying the cast was pretty fine, all things considered. But as is, Macabre just tried to do a bit too much in such a short time, and it didn't feel like it really worked out as well as it could have. It's rare I think a film would benefit from having More time, but the last fifteen minutes felt particularly rushed. The flashbacks decision, while interesting in theory, felt jarring in execution, grinding scenes to a halt and resulting in the same dialogue you heard before they started being repeated after they ended; this was just a bit annoying the first time, but especially so when it became a style Castle went back to multiple times throughout the film

Definitely not William Castle's best or close to it. But I appreciated the cast, I enjoyed the cinematography, the big scare looked good, and I did like that this was a serious Castle film that wasn't a western and didn't have spooky scary skeletons. Also I loved the end credits style where a funeral was held with moving cartoon versions of the characters. So I think I'll give this another shot someday eventually, late at night, maybe when I need something on in the background

Viewing this on Tubi was an experience as for some reason they don't have an English-audio version? Obviously didn't affect my enjoyment negatively to have subtitles, just thought it odd for a William Castle film. I know they have optional versions available alongside the English version for House on Haunted Hill but they still have the English-audio original one available too

***

12/13 (The New York Ripper, Gwen, Sleepless Beauty, The Head Hunter, 13: Game of Death, Deerskin, Curve, The Incredible Melting Man, Starry Eyes, Eyes Without a Face, In the Earth, Macabre 1958)

STAC Goat posted:

I honestly find all the Tremors sequels kind of harmless fun. Not worth going out of your way for, but perfectly fine matinee favor. And they actually kind of hold continuity and tell some character stories, which is kind of nice. The most recent one actually kind of was surprisingly above their average.

I'm in this boat too. The first one is still the best and none of the rest are really necessary, but I think if you're gonna watch any of them after, the most recent one (Shrieker Island) is the best of the sequels and a good closing chapter if they decide it should be the final one

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.


21. 1980. The Changeling
Directed by Peter Medak
Available on AMC, Shudder

In The Changeling, George C. Scott plays John Russell, a composer who has recently moved to Seattle following a family tragedy. He rents an enormous old Victorian mansion owned by the local historical society, and settles in to work, teaching a seminar at the local university and composing.



Of course, the house he rents has a tragic past and all sort of unexplainable, spooky things start to happen. There are loud, rhythmic banging noises. All of the water taps are turned on. A window is broken from the inside while the house is empty.



The Changeling is pretty much exactly the kind of scary movie I like. It’s all atmosphere and dread as John researches the house’s dark past. There is actually very little explicit violence or scares. Instead, The Changeling relies on sound and shadow to establish a mood. It doesn’t hurt that George C. Scott is fantastic. The movie depends on his performance and he definitely delivers.



As with many haunted house movies, this one spends a decent amount of time in murder mystery territory, but it doesn’t necessarily drag. I feel like I’m really underselling this but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes haunted house movies.

This is an easy :ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:


Time Travel Challenge: 21/31
Other Movies: 5/?

Watched:
Time Travel: 1. Jigoku (1960), 2. The Curse of the Doll People (1961), 3. The Burning Court (1962), 4. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), 5. The Long Hair of Death (1964), 6. Planet of the Vampires (1965), 7. Daimajin (1966), 8. Viy (1967), 9. A Quiet Place in the Country (1968), 10. The Cremator (1969), 11. Equinox (1970), 12. Lake of Dracula (1971), 13. The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972), 14. The Crazies (1973), 15. Deathdream aka Dead of Night (1974), 16. Race with the Devil (1975), 17. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), 18. The Incredible Melting Man (1977), 19. The Grapes of Death (1978), 20. Tourist Trap (1979), 21. The Changeling (1980)
Other: 1. Vampires vs. the Bronx, 2. The Roost, 3. Varan, 4. On the Silver Globe, 5. The Phantom of the Opera

twernt fucked around with this message at 19:04 on May 9, 2021

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

8. An American Werewolf in London (1981)



Probably one of the best werewolf movies ever made. Its a pitch black comedy really. As a film it really straddles the line with humor and horror in a perfect way. It's also got some of the best practical efects of werewolf transformation ever done. Rick Baker is responsible for that and its what earned him his Oscar for special effects in 1981. The first such Oscar to go out like this as well. Anyway its one of the more perfect horror movies of the 80s and still holds up today.

Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



I was originally going to watch It Follows but my never before watched but certainly out of the return window Blu-ray disc crapped out about 10 minutes into the movie so instead I watched...

Movie #6: Sleepaway Camp



Oh, well, that's all water under the bridge, as I always say. Water under the bridge!

I imagine this movie is what it feels like to step into the ring with a heavyweight champion. We open with the most contrived boating accident in the history of boating. While you're still getting over that, you get slugged by a historically awful/amazing performance from Aunt Martha and as you're reeling from THAT, the movie hits you with paedophile camp chef Artie, who is literally drooling over the fresh "bald eagles" arriving at Sleepaway Camp. "Bald eagles" being his term for girls who don't have pubic hair yet. And it doesn't let off from there, instead pummeling you for 84 minutes before finally knocking your rear end into next week.

I was expecting a bog-standard Friday the 13th knockoff, but uhh... that's not what's on offer here. I'm not sure if Sleepaway Camp is completely awful, kind of amazing, or both at once. The kills and effects are nice especially for such an obviously low budget movie, but everything else is varying degrees of awful, shocking, off-putting or downright disturbing.

Aside from muscular and very nice camp counselor Ronnie (and our main characters, cousins Angela and Ricky), everyone in the movie is AWFUL. The campers subject Angela and Ricky to horrible torment constantly, but of course they get their comeuppance as a mysterious killer (WHO COULD IT BE?!!?!) picks them off one by one.

The worst of the bunch may be camp owner Mel, who desperately tries to avoid bad publicity as campers and counselors alike are slaughtered, wrapping off his summer by trying to go on a date with a counselor who can't be more than 16 years old. Mel is charitably in his 60s. Yeah.

The acting is amazing in the sense that everyone in the movie is competing to see who can chew the scenery the hardest and put in the worst performance. And boy, the competition is FIERCE. I don't even consider this a real minus because it wraps around from just bad acting to amazingly bad acting and then flips the dial over a couple times more.


Which is more convincing? My per-FOR-mance, or my moustache?!

And the ending. Oh my god the ending. OH MY loving GOD THE ENDING. Don't read if you haven't watched Sleepaway Camp but JESUS loving CHRIST.

OK so the killer is Angela, which was at best a 50-50 shot right from the start, but it turns out that Angela isn't Angela. She's was born Peter, and because Aunt Martha is nuttier than a fruitcake and couldn't have two boys in the house, she decided to raise Angela as a girl after taking her in following the boating accident.

The reveal is done in the most shocking and tasteless way possible, as counselors discover a naked Angela leering at the camera while holding her camp sweetheart's decapitated head (which she decapitated with a hammer?), dong swinging in the summer breeze. And we freeze on Angela's face as she does her best Gene Simmons impression.

The ending honestly left me speechless, and of course also suddenly put the whole rest of the movie in a different and slightly sinister light. Like Angela killing a very mean and horrible female camper by shoving a hot curling iron into her vagina. The levels of psychosexual horror on display here would take a team of psychologists decades to unpack.


I thought I was prepared for Sleepaway Camp, but loving god damnit, nobody could be prepared for Sleepaway Camp. Rated as a movie -- where little things like plot and acting performances matter -- it would be a one star turkey, but as an experience it's one of a kind. And as such I am giving it...

:ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost: / 5

My movies:
1. Evil Dead II, 2. The Legend of Hell House, 3. Hausu, 4. The Haunting, 5. The Innkeepers, 6. Sleepaway Camp

Shaman Tank Spec fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 9, 2021

M_Sinistrari
Sep 5, 2008

Do you like scary movies?




10) Ring of Darkness - Prime - 2006

I had my misgivings going into this one, but I saw Adrienne Barbeau was in it so I figured to give it a watch. This goes past clunker into 'ooof'.

First off, I want to know how the hell this got a 'R' rating. I seriously doubt anything R-worthy happened when I got up to get something to drink.

Plot's one that's been done before, boy band + occult. Here, it's done in the most bland way possible. Essentially the boy band is undead. What type, go figure. They went down in a plane crash back in the 50s and their manager resurrected them except for their lead singer who was too messed up for resurrecting. So they've been recruiting new lead singers and turning them undead over the years. When their manager got too greedy, they killed him off and taught Barbeau the spells so she can keep things rolling. Even this was handled lackluster. The issue of Afterlife with Archie where it covered Josie & the Pussycats as vampires handled this worlds better. For how often they repeat the showing of their big hit video, you could make a drinking game out of it and get pretty snookered.

This is too crappy a film to include in a cheesy movie marathon. It's skippable.


11) Attack of the Demons - Shudder - 2019

Animated horror's hit or miss with me. I'll either love it or not. This one's a love it.

Animation style is reminiscent of first season South Park, but more effort put into it. If this film was live action, it would be gorier than BrainDead and Evil Dead combined. Plot is a demon summoning happens during a film & music festival in Colorado.

Everything was pretty good in this movie though the voice acting could've used a little work. It's definitely worth a watch.

FreudianSlippers
Apr 12, 2010

Shooting and Fucking
are the same thing!

3. The Zero Boys (1986) USA


A paintball team that calls themselves The Zero Boys stumbles upon an abandoned house when on a trip in the countryside and they soon find out that the house hides a bloody secret. Fortunately the Zero Boys brought their submachine guns.

I really wish this was a better movie than it is. The idea of mashing together action and slasher is great but the film doesn't really excel enough at either genre for it to work. The kills are few and mostly underwhelming and outside of the opening shootout (which is great) there isn´t nearly enough action. One thing I think harms the film is that the killers are just some random dudes and fairly dopey looking and easily dispatched so they're never really threatening or scary. If the killer had been an unstoppable juggernut in the tradition of Jasion or latter Thorn Curse Michael Myers I think it would´ve been a much more interesting dynamic.

It's pretty well directed and there are some cool and fun moments and a pretty interesting and creepy proto-"torture porn" element involving video but it never really clicked for me.

Also the titular Zero Boys are bunch of douchebags.







4. Crawl (2019) USA


A simple premise:
One woman, her dad, his dog, and a whole bunch of hungry alligators trapped in flooding house during a hurricane.

Of course it's a little bit more complicated than that. There's of course the interpersonal familial drama and what not but the simplicity of the central premise is a big part of what I like about the film. It's streamlined and focused in a way that is only achieved when you don't overcomplicate. It's basically

I'm a big practical effects nerd but I think the CGI gators in this film are actually a showcase for the pros of CGI as they get a long of long shots full of action and expression that would be pretty hard to achieve outside of releasing actual live alligators on the cast.

It's not quite as good as I was expecting, but that's my own fault for hyping myself up, but still a blast and a fun ride throughout.

also the dog is adorable.



The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog



15. The Phantom of the Opera (Dario Argento, 1998)
An absolute mess of a film, with some terrible performances, sloppy storytelling, bad jokes that didn't land for me, and some gore that felt out of place and also is not enough to make this worth watching. I usually try to write a little more but I honestly don't have much to say, this sucked. I watched this for the Bracketology Tournament thread.

:ghost: 1.5/5

Challenge Count: 15/31

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

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


Hey y'all, I won't be participating in this challenge because I've got some personal stuff going on this month, but I hope it's not presumptuous of me to offer you the January Horror Essentials movie lists as a potential resource to help you choose what to watch.

From the 2019 thread

From the 2021 thread

All of these come with the highest recommendation if you've never seen them, as they are certified, bonafide, genuine horror essentials.

:tipshat:

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

9. Beetlejuice ( 1988 )



I questioned whether to include this in my horror watch as it is much more comedy than horror , but it has a lot of horrific element and it deals iwth ghosts. Everyone in this is fantastic , Michael Keaton is wonderful as Beetlejuice ( what he considers his favorite role!). Anyway Tim Burton is at the top of his game with the humor and darkness about this film which taken on its own is a rather bleak film. Anyway great time was had.

Hollismason fucked around with this message at 21:23 on May 9, 2021

Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



Lurdiak posted:

Hey y'all, I won't be participating in this challenge because I've got some personal stuff going on this month, but I hope it's not presumptuous of me to offer you the January Horror Essentials movie lists as a potential resource to help you choose what to watch.

From the 2019 thread

From the 2021 thread

All of these come with the highest recommendation if you've never seen them, as they are certified, bonafide, genuine horror essentials.

:tipshat:

Dang, thanks for these. I'll definitely go through them and pick out movies I inevitably haven't seen.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Lurdiak posted:

Hey y'all, I won't be participating in this challenge because I've got some personal stuff going on this month, but I hope it's not presumptuous of me to offer you the January Horror Essentials movie lists as a potential resource to help you choose what to watch.

From the 2019 thread

From the 2021 thread

All of these come with the highest recommendation if you've never seen them, as they are certified, bonafide, genuine horror essentials.

:tipshat:

Good looking out. I never did get to Kwaidan or Eyes Without A Face and I should top them off. Maybe Maniac too. Not my think but I'm in a better place for that kind of movie right now than I was back in January.

Hope things work out for you.

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

10. The Blob (1988)



The goopiest of the 80s movies. You like goop? You like disgusting special effects? Then this is the movie for you. Just all around great retelling of and remake of the original. Everything about this is just ecellent. The special effects here are the real stand out and boy do they stand out with half melted bodies and the blob moving quickly and efficient killing inside out stomache.

Chris James 2
Aug 9, 2012


13. Macabre (1980)

Tubi, Vudu Free, Prime Video

I thought I was done for at least today, possibly until the weekend (I currently plan on making my first trip to a theater in over a year! for Spiral, the new Saw film!) but couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a double feature of Macabres once I discovered there was more than one horror film with that title on Tubi! While William Castle's Macabre ultimately felt more well-paced, even if it underwhelmed a bit with where that ended up, I enjoyed Lamberto Bava's Macabre more

I'm not as familiar with Lamberto's work as his dad Mario's, his only other film I've seen is Demons, which I obviously loved. With this I can already tell I'm going to have to give a rewatch soon, because I wasn't prepared for the directions it'd take or how tense it felt while getting there. Veronica Zinny did a fantastic job of being an evil rear end in a top hat kid who just really, really never stops being an evil rear end in a top hat, even among a group of people where being an rear end in a top hat kinda blends you in. Stanko Molnar plays Robert Duval, a blind man who makes every scene more tense by his actions feeling like a man who both knows more than he's letting on at the moment, and is getting more and more prepared to act on it if necessary. And while it takes a bit longer than for those two, toward the end Bernice Stegers as Jane comes together as somehow the one with less a grip on reality than either of them combined

To think it all starts with Jane losing her son and the man she's having an affair with in two tragedies in an hour. What follows is a very slow burn that feels like it'd fit right in in an R-rated soap opera, as Jane struggles to keep it together by day but appears and sounds rejuvenated at night, making Robert suspicious and jealous, and the rear end in a top hat kid even more of an rear end in a top hat craving attention not even being the only kid left in the family could grant her

By the end credits of Macabre it all comes together leaving you gross as gently caress and wanting a shower. It's the best horror film named Macabre I watched today. I think I should give more Lamberto Bava works a watch soon!

****

13/13 (The New York Ripper, Gwen, Sleepless Beauty, The Head Hunter, 13: Game of Death, Deerskin, Curve, The Incredible Melting Man, Starry Eyes, Eyes Without a Face, In the Earth, Macabre 1958, Macabre 1980)

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

11. Arachnophobia



What a great creature flick. I love this movie because I hate spiders! Can't stand them at all so this is a crazy fun movie for me. Jeff Daniels and John Good man star in this first film from Frank Marshall with Steven Spielberg eecutive producing. Anyway its a great creepy crawly film.

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.


22. 1981. My Bloody Valentine
Directed by George Mihalka
Available on Amazon Prime, Kanopy

In Valentine Bluffs, the little town with a big heart, they’re planning the first Valentine’s Day dance in 20 years. It’s been a while because there’s a curse. Harry Warden, a miner driven insane after he was buried alive, killed some folks during the last dance and warned the town against ever celebrating again.



It’s 1981, the dance is potentially back on, and Harry Warden is potentially on the prowl again. Throw in a love triangle, a green Camaro, and an endless supply of Moosehead and you’ve got a recipe for some very polite Canadian murders.

My Bloody Valentine is a solid slasher, even if the killer does more stabbing than slashing. I’m assuming that when you kill someone with a pickaxe it’s stabbing. Anyway, it happens quite a bit. The death toll is pretty substantial and the extended finale in the mine is creative and unique.



I have mixed feelings about the fact that this wasn’t more successful. Not everything needs to become a franchise, but the intersection of small town industrial misery and a unique looking killer could have provided a lot of material.

To me, this is a solid :ghost::ghost::ghost:


Time Travel Challenge: 22/31
Other Movies: 5/?

Watched:
Time Travel: 1. Jigoku (1960), 2. The Curse of the Doll People (1961), 3. The Burning Court (1962), 4. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), 5. The Long Hair of Death (1964), 6. Planet of the Vampires (1965), 7. Daimajin (1966), 8. Viy (1967), 9. A Quiet Place in the Country (1968), 10. The Cremator (1969), 11. Equinox (1970), 12. Lake of Dracula (1971), 13. The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972), 14. The Crazies (1973), 15. Deathdream aka Dead of Night (1974), 16. Race with the Devil (1975), 17. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), 18. The Incredible Melting Man (1977), 19. The Grapes of Death (1978), 20. Tourist Trap (1979), 21. The Changeling (1980), 22. My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Other: 1. Vampires vs. the Bronx, 2. The Roost, 3. Varan, 4. On the Silver Globe, 5. The Phantom of the Opera

Gripweed
Nov 8, 2018

ASK ME ABOUT MY
UNITED STATES MARINES
FUNKO POPS COLLECTION



Us



After the classic mad scientist horror of Get Out, Jordan Peele gets political with Us.

Us is one of those movies that's gotta settle for a bit. At first, in the flashback when the mom said "I just want my daughter back!" I was like OK clearly Lupita Nyong'o is gonna be an Us, she was switched with an Us and that's gonna be the thing. But then the Uses show up and are weird and I couldn't really get a handle on the Us worldbuilding and I was like, not sure about this, this seems oddly magical in a way that doesn't jibe with the real physical tunnels from the opening crawl, where are they going with this? But then the escalation happened and I was like OK this is pretty great, I really like when horror movies reveal that a localized spookiness is actually a global apocalypse, I am on board even if I'm still not sure about the Uses lore. Then it explained the Uses and I'm like, OK I am fully satisfied with that explanation, I am 100% on board with this movie at every level. But then comes the final twist, and I'm not sure about that. I don't know if that enhances the movie or hurts it.

But that aside, it's still a good spooky time with some fun gore, great performance from Nyong'o, and good politics.

It does slightly waste Tim Heidecker. I don't think they zoomed in on him even once.

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

12. Army of Darkness



What can I say I wanted a fun feel good movie to end the day with and my mini horror movie marathon for today so I chose Army of Darkness. What's not to love about this film its no frills jump into the action approach could be used by more films. It a lean less that 100 minutes I think like 93 run time is perfect. The film doesn't waste any time with needless back story , you get everything you need to know in the first 5 minutes. Its endlessly quotable and it just holds a special place in that horror/ comedy genre. Anyway great movie.

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




9: In Search of Darkness Part 2


I watched this in small chunks over the past week or so.
It's the same as the first one. Some prominent horror names and some internet people like the angry videogame nerd talk about 80s horrors. They rattle through them, spending 2-5 minutes per movie and it's 4.5 hours long.
The main problem is they shot their load in the first one and now most of the American movies they talk about are C-list or lower. There are several movies the guests have nothing positive to say about at all, they just shrug and say "yeah that was a stinker". On the plus side, it did force them to talk about Italian horror which was conspicuously absent from Part 1.
There's no reason it needed to be this long except I suppose crowdsourced projects require quantity. There were a million names of backers in the credits.
It doesn't have any great insights to the horror genre. It's something to put on in the background while you do laundry.

Competed: 9
Four Flies on Grey Velevet; Gods and Monsters; Alice, Sweet Alice, Witchfinder General; Street Trash; Cannibal Holocaust; C.H.U.D; Raw Force; In Search of Darkness 2

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.


15 (18). Nina Forever (2015)
Written and directed by brothers Ben and Chris Blaine.
Watched on Amazon Prime, available on Shudder, AMC+, Crackle, Fubo, Plex, Roku, Tubi, and Vudu.


A very interesting film. A premise that feels at the same time very dark, very sentimental, very funny, and very deep. But also kind of confusing. The film kind of swerves you on what the point of the metaphor is. It does so effectively but in a way that left me not quite sure what I was to take away from it. And its kind of hard to talk more without spoilers.

The presumed idea that Nina is about Rob's grief and inability to move on is the easy thing. Its obviously there and barely even subtext since Nina and her parents all but state the mission statement repeatedly. And that's definitely Rob's story. He's stuck in place when we meet him and clearly in a bad place having tried to kill himself and looking to hurt himself. Holly helps him reunite with Nina, say goodbye, confront what he's doing, and heal. But Nina isn't done and moves on to Holly. And its an interesting little shift that feels like its Holly kind of taking on Rob's obsession but is then revealed to be something much deeper. The end twist that Nina's been haunting Holly the entire time, not Rob, is very well executed. The kind of twist that makes total sense and makes you feel a little silly if you didn't get it. But truthfully I didn't fully get it. Because the film focuses so much on the swerve of Rob's grief it feels like it neglects Holly's dark obsessions or fascinations that drew her to Rob in the first place and Nina to her.

Calling it a "swerve" probably isn't entirely fair. The film is really doing both things, but it does feel like in fully realizing one it left me kind of wanting for more of the other. I ended the film without any real sense of completion or satisfaction but instead wanting to know more. Maybe that's a good thing but it leaves me feeling off and unsure what I think of things.

But I did enjoy everything up to that end point... even including the end point. Its a well acted piece from all 3 leads, especially Fiona O'Shaughnessy and Abigail Hardingham. Its very interesting ideas very well executed. Its darkly funny in a very dry way that can be hard to nail. Its a little sexy in a really dark and weird way. It really pulled off everything I think it wanted to do and is an impressive debut for the brothers. I'd love to see what else they have in them but its a little concerning they haven't done anything in the 6 years since. But I hope to see more because this is a very interesting film that left me wanting more.




16 (19). Area 51 (2015)
Written and directed by Oren Peli, co-written by Christopher Denham
Available on Paramount+.


Return of the Fallen 5/13
Team “Mortgages are Hell”; Eliminated in Seeding Round


That was... ok. That might be generous but it never really lost my interest so I can't be too harsh on it. But Area 51 has a lot of fundamental problems. Structurally its very poorly balanced. Way too much of the film is spent in setup that doesn't have a lot of setup. Its like being stuck in a bad video game where you're constantly old to go to NPC X to get Macguffin A. They'll all be needed later to open some door or disable some device or something but its this long chain just collecting things that aren't that interesting from people that aren't that interesting in scenes that aren't that interesting. You can trim it down a lot into a perfectly fine first act setup but it drags and ends up taking up like the entire first half of the film.

Things pick up a bit when they get to Area 51 finally and it starts to build some tension through the basic act of running around with a camera and yelling. But there's still not a lot of meat. We get that laundry list of collected items being run through and then we get a lot of quick glimpses of alieny stuff. But we only really get glimpses and tastes. Despite the characters making some of the poorest possible decisions they could to advance us deeper and deeper into the unexplained alien world we still never really get real looks at anything or meaty scenes. Just running, quick moments, and then a finale that's just kind of weird. And not so much in an interesting way but more in a "no need to write a real ending" way.

I dunno. There's the rough core of an interesting movie in here but its very rough. Its not that surprising to me to find out it took 6 years to get this out after lots of rewrites and tinkering. Clearly this doesn't really work and it would seem the filmmakers felt the same way and spent a lot of trying to get there. They didn't. I don't think its a terrible watch but its a pretty empty one. It mainly made me want to watch a similar but better film.



🌻🎈Spook-A-Doodle Half-Way-To-Halloween ’21: Return of the Fallen & King Spring🎈🌻
King Spring: 4/13
Return of the Fallen: 5/13
Watched - New (Total)
1. Riding the Bullet (2004); 2. Cat’s Eye (1985); - (3). Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020); - (4). The Thing (1982); 3 (5). Sleep Tight (2011); - (6). Dark Shadows (2012); 4 (7). The Wicker Man (1973); 5 (8). Varan (1958); 6 (9). The Roost (2005); 7 (10). The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007); 8 (11). The Leech Woman (1960); 9 (12). Sometimes They Come Back (1991); 10 (13). Varan the Unbelievable (1962); 11 (14). 1922 (2017); 12 (15). What Keeps You Alive (2018); 13 (16). On the Silver Globe (1988); 14 (17). The Phantom of the Opera (1998); 15 (18). Nina Forever (2015); 16 (19). Area 51 (2015);

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord
13) Aliens (1986)


All in all? It was fun. It was good. I can see why it's a classic, though I think I prefer the original to this sequel. This movie is turned up to 11 in almost every single way, and that makes for an exciting popcorn time, but there were a few times where there was just SO MUCH going on that I zoned out a bit.
3.5 / 5

14) The Cremator (1969)


What a strange and timeless-feeling movie. At it's heart, it's a similar sort of "descent into madness" horror as Henry or Deranged, but with the arty-ness turned up to 11. Fantastic and gorgeous all the way through. And the way that Kopfrkingl would look directly at the camera at certain parts was 4th-wall-breaking in a way that will haunt my dreams.
4.5 / 5

15) Saw IV (2007)


There's so much about this film that doesn't work, but it's still... and I hate to say this... important to the lore. And some of the kills are cool. I've seen worse.
2 / 5

16) Dark Skies (2013)


I think this was a very effective film. It didn't do anything new, it retread some pretty work ground, but... For some reason I just loved this movie. There are some genuinely upsetting scenes. Definitely worth a watch.
3.5 / 5

17) The McPherson Tape (1989)


It definitely gets points for being "ahead of its time" in the realm of found footage films, but... honestly the reveal of the aliens at the end ruins it. The effects are below student film quality, and it just ruins all the tension that was built up prior. 45 minutes of a family yelling at each other and 15 minutes of kids in terrible rubber masks.
2.5 / 5

18) Saw (2004)


Rewatch with my wife, such a great movie. That moment when "Hello Zepp" starts playing at the end is just... incomparable, I love it so much.
3.5 / 5

Total: 18
1. Crawl (2019) / 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) / 3. Vampyr (1932) / 4. I Walked With A Zombie (1943) / 5. Kwaidan (1964) / 6. Vampyres (1975) / 7. The Howling (1981) / 8. Torso (1973) / 9. Frankenhooker (1990) / 10. Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010) / 11. Them (Ils) (2006) / 12. Nina Forever (2015) / 13. Aliens (1986) / 14. The Cremator (1969) / 15. Saw IV (2007) / 16. Dark Skies (2013) / 17. The McPherson Tape (1989) / 18. Saw (2004)

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

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

Grimey Drawer

Spatulater bro! posted:

When might we expect to see the Fran Challenges?

Fran Challenges are going to be different this May.

Instead of the standard "few prompts a week" system, you're getting them all up-front. The first week was for everyone to watch whatever they wanted. Now you have three weeks left to work through these:


1. Short Cuts



Watch 60+ minutes worth of horror short films and review them.


2. Sometimes They Come Back



Watch a film that has had a remake. Either watch the original, or watch the remake. Whichever you watch, it must be new to you. No rewatches.


3. Camp BLOOD



Watch a horror movie that takes place at a summer camp.


4. Movie of the Month



Watch a horror movie that has been featured as a CineD Movie of the Month. Try to watch one that's new to you, but if you've seen them all, pick one that you've seen the least.


5. Cinco



Watch a Mexican horror film. Must be new-to-you.


6. Playing With Power



Watch a horror film that has had a tie-in video game. OR Watch a horror film adaptation of a video game. (Note: While it's not mandatory, it would be really fun to provide pictures or footage from the video game.)


7. Mother's Day



Watch a film that takes place on Mother's Day. OR Watch a film that emphasizes motherhood, themes of being a mother, or features a killer mom.


8. Dead & Buried



Watch a film featuring a cast member who has passed away since October. It can be an actor, composer, director, producer, etc. Must be new-to-you.


9. Scream, Queen!



Watch a horror movie directed by an LGBQT+ filmmaker. OR Watch a horror movie that has been embraced by the LGBQT+ community. OR Watch a horror movie with themes and/or subjects that directly relate to the LGBQT+ community. OR Watch Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street documentary if you haven't seen it yet


10. Behind the Mask



Watch a documentary about a horror director. OR Watch a documentary about a horror film. OR Watch a film inspired by non-fiction accounts of a film or filmmaker. (For this challenge, you can step out of the strict horror/thriller guidelines, since this leans into bio-pics like Ed Wood.) OR Watch a film about a group of people making a horror film.


11. Myths & Legends



Watch a horror film heavily featuring mythical creatures (killer mermaids, killer minotaur, killer unicorn, etc.) OR Watch a horror film heavily featuring real cryptids. (Not one invented for the film.) OR Watch a film that heavily features real urban legends.


12. Cavalcade of Creepiness



Watch an anthology film that's new to you.


13. Horrible Holidays



Watch a horror film that heavily features any holiday. (The holiday does not need to be throughout the movie; a major holiday scene counts, as long as it's prominent. ie Easter in Critters 2.)


:siren: Another twist to these challenges. FILMS CAN RETROACTIVELY COUNT. This is only for the May Challenge; don't expect such leniency come October.

This list is going to the 2nd post in the first page for convenience.


Spatulater bro! posted:

What length is considered to be a short film for the purposes of Fran Challenge #1?

You must include all of the short films in a single post labeled with Fran Challenge "Short Cuts". For easy reference, the short films can't be spread across multiple posts until the requirement is met.

Each short film must be written about just like a full-length film.

Include a link to the short film, or a link to the short film's Letterboxd or imdb page.

If you have written about short films in this thread already, they can't be included in this post.

"What short films qualify?"
If it tonally would qualify for the challenge, it's probably okay.

Student Films,
professional short films,
YouTube films
Halloween short films,
scary/horror short films
Thriller shorts that err on the side of horror
Horror comedy
Live action
Animated

Just make sure it's actually a short film and not, say, a Halloween special, like the Paul Lynde Halloween Special.

Music videos are a weird in-between. I'm fine with something like The Monster gently caress, because while it's more of a skit, it's got enough going on in it, and it's short enough, that I would say it counts. Thriller technically counts; it even has a Letterboxd entry as a short film. However, use these sparingly. Don't just do a write-up about 70 minutes of music videos with slightly spooky imagery. I'd rather you watch and write about a 21 year old's first attempt at a horror movie about a killer doll than a write-up about Haddaway's What Is Love music video.

"Are there short films that don't qualify?"
Really long short films defeats the point. Don't watch Host or a Masters of Horror episode and then a 5 minute long short film to push you over the 60+ minute requirement. I'd rather you watch ten 6 minute long films than one 55 minute and one 6 minute short.

However, something like Halloween Is Grinch Night, at 26 minutes long, is okay.

Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 22:07 on May 10, 2021

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe
I like how #11 is "Watch a movie about a mythical creature(YOU CAN TOTALLY DO THE LURE FOR THIS ONE GUYS, MERMAIDS COUNT! WATCH THE LURE!)"

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord
Hell yeah! I've already done a few of these!

Now I need to decide if Kwaidan goes under anthology or mythology :abrathink:

edit-- the post above mine makes a good point, anthology for Kwaidan means I get to watch The Lure!

edit2-- adding my summary below so I can easy copy paste it in future posts:

Total: 18
1. Crawl (2019) / 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (FC1) / 3. Vampyr (1932) / 4. I Walked With A Zombie (1943) / 5. Kwaidan (1964) (FC12) / 6. Vampyres (1975) (FC9) / 7. The Howling (1981) / 8. Torso (1973) / 9. Frankenhooker (1990) / 10. Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010) (FC10) / 11. Them (Ils) (2006) / 12. Nina Forever (2015) / 13. Aliens (1986) / 14. The Cremator (1969) (FC4) / 15. Saw IV (2007) / 16. Dark Skies (2013) / 17. The McPherson Tape (1989) / 18. Saw (2004) (FC6)
Fran Challenges Remaining -- 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13

Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 14:32 on May 10, 2021

Gripweed
Nov 8, 2018

ASK ME ABOUT MY
UNITED STATES MARINES
FUNKO POPS COLLECTION



Franchescanado posted:

7. Mother's Day



Watch a film that takes place on Mother's Day. OR Watch a film that emphasizes motherhood, themes of being a mother, or features a killer mom.

gently caress I just did Us last night. What a waste.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

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

Grimey Drawer

Gripweed posted:

gently caress I just did Us last night. What a waste.

If you're being a purist who doesn't want to count films retroactively, that's totally fine, but I made a point for this month's challenge to let people use films retroactively for challenges.


Basebf555 posted:

I like how #11 is "Watch a movie about a mythical creature(YOU CAN TOTALLY DO THE LURE FOR THIS ONE GUYS, MERMAIDS COUNT! WATCH THE LURE!)"

Hwee Hwee Hwee.

:sickos:

Also, a killer mermaid is maybe the easiest way to complete this challenge, but I do hope some creative goons hunt out a lesser-known film with a mythological creature or cryptid.

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

I'm going to make the challenges even tougher on myself and use the They Shoot Zombies list entries I haven't seen as my bank of options. Obviously it won't be 100% but I'll get as close as possible.

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




For 6 does it need to be a tie in for a specific movie or just set in that world eg Alien Isolation/Friday 13th the game?

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

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

Grimey Drawer

bitterandtwisted posted:

For 6 does it need to be a tie in for a specific movie or just set in that world eg Alien Isolation/Friday 13th the game?

Set in the world is fine. Some games came out after the 2nd or 3rd movie, and incorporated elements from all three in their game design, for instance. Also there are quite a few games that came out in the 80's or 90's for horror movies that no one thinks about cuz they weren't good.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

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

Fun Shoe
For the Mother's Day challenge I encourage people to watch Serial Mom if they haven't seen it yet.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

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

Grimey Drawer
I got my 2nd Covid-19 Moderna shot at the start of the weekend. Wasn't too bad, but I did have to take the day off for the side-effects, and that really threw my whole weekend schedule off. I watched plenty of movies, but haven't had a chance to write too much.


4. Varan
1958
dir. Ishiro Honda
Bracketology Thread



A pretty lackluster kaiju film from the kaiju auteur himself. The more Honda films I watch, the less I understand his career. I asked for some information on Honda and Varan, because I don't understand how a person that makes good kaiju films makes a bad one. Thankfully, Burkion came to the rescue with some information!

Burkion posted:

First, this is not a defense of Varan.

If anything I wouldn't have included Varan at all, regardless what version. But it counts, so it gets included.

Your time scale is a bit off Fran- Varan was 1958, not 8 years later. That might seem even more insane- only 4 years after Gojira, 2 years after Rodan, what in the world happened? This even predates Mothra and many of his great films from the 60s, and is concurrent with some of his other 50s greats! And its not just the direction- the effects are worse, the picture quality is kind of really bad, and the picture is in black and white despite Rodan being, again, two years prior.

If something smells, you'd be right. That stench is a convoluted mess of bullshit and fuckery.

So let's paint the picture. 1956, Godzilla King of the Monsters is an international sensation. Godzilla becomes a house hold name. Fantastic, great cool yeah okay let's go. You know what else is becoming a household phenomenon? TV! So an American TV network goes, yo! This monster movie stuff is great! Let's go talk with Toho and get one made specifically for TV that we'll co-finance and air everywhere!

So they go over to Toho and Toho goes, yeah I guess sure. Yo, Honda, take a month and go film this. Tsuburaya, get your B Team together, grease up the actors let's go. Here's some poo poo equipment that we're not using anymore because who gives a poo poo, this isn't going to be seen on a big picture. Oh what's that Tsuburaya, you absolutely hate the conditions you're having to work under because everything is going to look cheap and fake as hell and you don't have time to make it look right, nor the budget? Well you see, it's going to be on TV, so no one cares get it done. Sorry Honda, you get black and white cameras with no sound equipment that might be worse than what you shot Gojira with. It's going to be on TV and they're all black and white so who cares.


Oh what's that, the TV studio went bust and that entire deal is now busted?

Well. poo poo. Movie's already too far in production to stop. Can't do anything about it being black and white, but we'll pan and scan the footage and just make it wide screen I'm sure that won't make the lovely footage look worse.

Oh did I mention the month time frame to make the movie?

I made that joke in discord, then I checked because I realized that sounded right to me for some reason. I was wrong, it wasn't a month


Unless you count February. 28 days is all this movie was given.

When they realized they were stuck with this turd going to theaters, they tried to shoot a few more scenes to give it, you know, a story, but you've seen the results. Tsuburaya's annoyance with the whole venture is well known, but even Ishiro Honda, one of the most loyal directors around, was extremely unhappy with everything and with Toho for doing this. The entire movie was a giant stumble backwards since Toho had already moved into proper wide screen AND color film, and the result is as evident as anything.


And then in the 1960s some Americans grabbed the film and made it racist as all hell.

Just really brought out the shining racism and White Savior Knows Best bullshit.

Couldn't have happened to a better movie

There are some things I liked about the film. I found the initial premise interesting: scientists doing research trips on local fauna disrespect indigenous people and ignore their warnings about a creature they worship, only to get eaten by said creature. I like the idea of scientists starting a kaiju war because they overstepped their boundaries in the name of science.

I think the first reveal of Varan looks pretty good, when it emerges from the water. Everything after is a bit sloppy.

Ultimately, a pretty ugly, boring kaiju film.


2 out of 5 :cthulhu:


Total: 4
Films Watched: Fright Night | The Brood | The Black Cat | Varan
rewatch | new to me

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply