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twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.


30. Santa Sangre (1989)
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Available on Kanopy, Tubi

Santa Sangre is a Surrealist slasher movie, probably the first and only one I’ve ever seen. The core of the story should be familiar to horror fans. A child experiences trauma and is never able to overcome his struggle with it. When he becomes an adult, he expresses his inner turmoil through violence.



This is the first movie I’ve seen in a long time that I would describe as a spectacle. The color, music, and motion are just incredible. Most of the scenes are packed with details. It’s almost overwhelming and I’m sure I’ll need to rewatch it to appreciate everything that’s going on.



Santa Sangre is a beautiful, symbol-laden trip that I really enjoyed even though I wasn’t always sure what was actually happening. That said, it does all come together in the end.

Definitely a :ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:1/2



Time Travel Challenge: 30/31
Fran Challenges: 7/13
Bracketology: 7/?

Watched:
Time Travel Challenge: 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), 23. Human Lanterns (1982), 24. Christine (1983), 25. Night of the Comet (1984), 26. Demons (1985), 27. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), 28. Wolf’s Hole (1987), 29. The Vanishing (1988), 30. Santa Sangre (1989)
Bracketology: 1. Vampires vs. the Bronx, 2. The Roost, 3. Varan, 4. On the Silver Globe, 5. The Phantom of the Opera, 6. Mark of the Vampire, 7. Tigers Are Not Afraid
Fran Challenges: 1. Un Chien Andalou / The Big Shave / Kitchen Sink / Foxes / Portal to Hell!!!, 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 3. The Burning, 4. Dead Ringers, 5. Belzebuth, 6. Fright Night, 7. The Brood

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Kazzah
Jul 15, 2011

Formerly known as
Krazyface
Hair Elf
02: The Empty Man (2020)


A man investigates a cult that is seemingly based on Slenderman.
It was okay. Overlong, and it seemed aimless at times, but the ending did quite a good job of recontextualising the rest of the movie in a fun way. I guess it was all fundamentally about horror protagonists, and what people want and expect from them.

:spooky::spooky::spooky:/5

03: One Cut of the Dead (2017)

The actual behind-the-scenes footage of the real movie crew filming the fake movie crew that's filming the in-universe movie.

A Japanese director is tasked with creating a found-footage zombie flick which is both a continuous single-shot, and aired live on TV. Just a delightful movie, funny and warm. An audience's attention works very differently when they watch something for the second time; instead of figuring out what's happening, they focus much more on details, intentions, character motivations. One Cut uses this difference very intelligently; the first time I saw the footage, I just accepted all the odd moments where the cast didn't know what was going to happen next; it's a movie, so OBVIOUSLY they're going somewhere with this. The last 1/3rd of the movie, the Behind-the-scenes part, does a great job of making the same footage from before new and interesting.

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

04: The Carrier (1988)


April's Movie of the Month
A small town is swept up in religious mania following the outbreak of a terrible disease, spread by a local outcast. This was a really nice surprise, an obscure low-budget movie with some great set+costume design. It's got this distinctive tone to it, where things get absurd but never entirely farcical; it's funny when a warlord demands the enemy camp share their cats (for detecting disease), but the battle scene that follows is genuinely grim. I'm going to be honest, I really don't understand the mechanics of how the disease works, but ah well. Had a good time.

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

Up next: Day of the Dead...

Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



Hollismason posted:

I will advocate for watching the Hellraiser films starting with the last one and going in reverse order. That way the films just get better not worse.

I think I've seen the uhhh first four or five Hellraisers. One was amazing, two was weird but still decent (I think) and then oh boy. I distinctly remember a Cenobite who had a CD player for a head and shot deadly CDs at people.

bitterandtwisted
Sep 4, 2006




14: Goodnight Mommy (2014)
:siren: FC7: Mother's Day :siren:

Twin boys Elias and Lukas begin to think their mother has been replaced by an imposter after she returns from surgery, covered in bandages, and acts cold and different from before.
It's hard to talk about this without spoilers so
From the very first family conversation, it's telegraphed strongly that Lukas is a figment of Elias' imagination. This is done repeatedly but never explicitly confirmed until the very end of the movie, so until the last act I was bracing myself for a double-twist - that Lukas was real and being neglected by a mother that had something wrong with her. There was no double-twist, but the movie certainly surprised me. I was not prepared for the innocent cruelty of an insane child. The tension slowly but constantly increases until it becomes almost unbearable by the end.

If you like psychological horror that goes to very dark places, I highly recommend this one.

Competed: 14
Four Flies on Grey Velevet; Gods and Monsters FC9; Alice, Sweet Alice, Witchfinder General; Street Trash; Cannibal Holocaust; C.H.U.D; Raw Force; In Search of Darkness 2; The Crazies (2010)FC2; Tigers are not Afraid FC5; Trilogy of Terror FC12; Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savin FC10; Goodnight Mommy FC7

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

14. Patrick (1978)
This was so slow and boring that even the slightest movement by Patrick came off as thrilling. Patrick perfectly captures all the nuances and excitement of being in a vegetative state.
Favourite part has a man who devoted over a decade of his life to become a doctor just slap Patrick really hard across his face. "Well I'm all outta ideas

:ghost::ghost: /5

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

#17

The Evil Dead (rewatch)
Sam Raimi, 1981



First off the 4k UHD looks spectacular. Of course an early 80s horror movie shot on 16mm is never going to look pristine, but the effect of the ultra high resolution and HDR gives it a film-like quality that home video simply hasn't been able to produce until now. It's really something.

One thing that stuck out to me on this rewatch is how narratively sparse the movie is. Raimi and gang had zero fucks to give about creating three dimensional characters, backstories or narrative through lines. The Evil Dead is simply 85 minutes of gore, goop, demons and crazy pov shots. And it's glorious.

Something else that I appreciated even more on this watch is the wonderful gore. There's SO much of it, especially compared to the sequels (even EDII pales in comparison in terms of quantity), and it's the gnarly, nasty sort of gore I love. As much as I love EDII, nothing in that film makes me cringe like the eyeball gouge. And those stop motion effects near the end are killer.

It's interesting to think back to horror films ca. 1981 and consider just how markedly different The Evil Dead was from anything else being produced at the time. In an era where horror filmmakers were beginning to settle into the safe space of generic Friday the 13th ripoffs, Sam Raimi made something truly unique and memorable. Seeing this in the theater upon its release must have been an absolute trip.

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), 11. Prince of Darkness (1987), 12. What We Do in the Shadows (2014), 13. The Devil's Advocate, 14. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), 15. Madman (1981), 16. The House That Dripped Blood (1971), 17. The Evil Dead (1981)

7/13 Fran Challenges completed: 2. Sometimes They Come Back, 3. Camp BLOOD, 7. Mother's Day, 8. Dead & Buried, 9. Scream, Queen!, 10. Behind the Mask, 12. Cavalcade of Creepiness

Spatulater bro! fucked around with this message at 20:49 on May 15, 2021

TheBizzness
Oct 5, 2004

Reign on me.
8. Silent Night, Deadly Night FC13

There will be spoilers ahead so if you care about that you should probably stop reading.

There are the bones of a very good movie here but due to piss poor writing it ends up being mediocre as hell.

I can really dig the idea of The Santa Clause but evil as heck, which is the premise laid out by the comatose grandfather in the very first scene. Directly following that we see a Mall Santa, for lack of a better term, leaving a job very upset he only got paid $30 for his work. Shortly thereafter he stops our main character and his family pretending to need help on the road.

You would think to rob them, as his only character development is that he was upset he didn’t get paid enough, but no, he just brutally murders the parents for no real reason. This wouldn’t be a problem normally, not everything needs an explanation, but what’s the point of the previous scene then?

After the first 10 minutes are non stop violence and creepiness, the movie jumps directly into a half hour of boring dialogue and cliché story telling. Eventually we end up with inevitable: Little Billy ends up a murderous Santa due to his PTSD. None of the killing has any tension at all, although there is one pretty cool kill.

Much like my posts, Silent Night, Deadly Night needed one (or two?) more pass through the writers room to straighten out some of the good ideas the movie has but are never clearly delivered upon.

The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog



24. Patrick (Richard Franklin, 1978)
Patrick is a comatose patient who has psychokinetic powers, which he uses for hijinks like making a typewriter say rude things, shaking a man around a pool like he's getting laid in Showgirls, and stopping doctors from experimenting on him. Most of the movie is just this dude buggin' his eyes out like an Australian Marty Feldman or spitting on nurses and pretending he didn't. It feels like one of those films that is going to spend 90 minutes building up to 20 minutes of chaos, but it isn't, it's just 110 minutes of coma. At the big climax, the murderous comatose incel demands that the nurse he's into choose between him, or her husband who she loves, as if it's supposed to be a difficult decision. This film is so, so boring, and it looks like they killed a few frogs along the way. :mad:

:ghost: 1.5/5

Challenge Count: 24/31
Fran Challenges: 1 (Various) 2 (Suspiria 2018) 3 (Cheerleader Camp) 4 5 (Tigers Are Not Afraid) 6 7 (Goodnight Mommy) 8 (The Clown at Midnight) 9 10 (Video Nasties) 11 12 (Tales of Halloween) 13 (April Fool's Day)

Irony.or.Death
Apr 1, 2009


Shaman Tank Spec posted:

I think I've seen the uhhh first four or five Hellraisers. One was amazing, two was weird but still decent (I think) and then oh boy. I distinctly remember a Cenobite who had a CD player for a head and shot deadly CDs at people.

Your memory is only like 20% lying to you, that's in the third one. Which some people would argue is the fourth-best in the franchise after Bloodlines, but it's actually the third-best because Bloodlines doesn't have the CD Cenobite.

Class3KillStorm
Feb 17, 2011




#14. Mandy (Shudder via Joe Bob Briggs)

After his girlfriend is kidnapped and killed by a group of crazed cenobite-styled bikers and a group of hippie New Age religious freaks, a lumberjack goes on a kill-crazy rampage.

It's a simple story, but what makes Mandy so interesting is the direction by Panos Cosmatos, all red and blue color washes like something from Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis and designs like H.R. Gieger or Clive Barker doing airbrushed van art. However, Cosmatos is also supremely uninterested in character or dialogue, so your not going to get anything in the way of deep performances from most of the cast. (Nicolas Cage is fine when he gets asked to emote, but it's a very inward performance most of the time. Linus Roache gets the most to do, in terms of character work, as the sociopathic former singer Jeremiah Sand, and he is great throughout, though.) This is all in service on extrapolating on a theme and on sustaining or riffing on a tone; I'm not a fan of calling films "tone poems," but I don't know what else to call something like Mandy, which is so simplistic in approach that it almost eschews basic expectations of narrative filmmaking. I don't know if that would be considered a positive here or not.

Now, I watching this last night with the Joe Bob Briggs insertions on The Last Drive-In, which, on paper, sounds like a terrible way to watch the film. But, full disclosure, this is my second attempt to get through Mandy and my only successful go at it. (The first time was definitely not helped by having my mom and aunt there, but I also don't think I was of the right mindset to get through the film. It's very much a "mindset movie", where if you're not in the right headspace to watch that film you're bound to be unable to finish it, or will be miserable by the end of it.) That said, there's very little intentional humor in Mandy and it can seem like its trying to sustain "vaguely ethereal misery" as its basic modus operandi for long, unbroken stretches, so having a character like Joe Bob Briggs interrupt to wax laconic about the film and its creations can help break up feelings of monotony. At least, that's how I was able to get through some of the worst stretches of the film. (I am not a fan of the long sustained section where Mandy and Jeremiah have their confrontation, since it was shot with a pervasive red wash and blue strobing ghosting effects on movement, and Roache's voice was digitally altered; it was offputting to the point of causing us to turn it off the last time I tried to watch it. Having Joe Bob interrupt shortly before and right after helped keep me better grounded.)

On the whole, I think Mandy ends up working well, mostly because of its direction but at times seemingly in spite of it. This isn't a movie that would seem to benefit from the idea of restraint, but I also don't think that it can sustain being cranked up to full-bore color wash untethered madness for its entire runtime on its own either. Having something to help alleviate being stuck in Cosmatos' psyche makes it more palatable, to me at least. The back section of mostly unbroken action is definitely worth it; the beginning sections are fine, though I think it will end up stepping on its own feet in service of trying to wring more style out of material that doesn't benefit from it. I just wish the 20 or so minutes between when they summon the 'Mad Max Bikers from Hell" nameless characterless side henchmen up until Bill Duke shows does were a little less grating to watch. Sometimes less is more; sometimes you need an unintentional assist to break up the monotony of Persistent Creative Vision.

:ghost::ghost::ghost:/5 on its own
:ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:/5 with assistance

Watched so far: The Curse of the Cat People, Freaky, Vampires vs the Bronx, Rawhead Rex, Tarantula, In Search of Darkness, Ginger Snaps (rewatch), In Search of Darkness Part II (FC #10), Mother's Day (2010) (FC #7), Scream, Queen! (FC #9), House of Wax (1953) (FC #2), Vampire in Venice (FC #8), Possessor, Mandy

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.


31. 1990. Bride of Re-Animator
Directed by Brian Yuzna
Available on Amazon Prime, Kanopy, Shudder

I had high hopes for Bride of Re-Animator. Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, and David Gale return as Dr. West, Dr. Cain, and Dr. Hill, with Brian Yuzna directing. It should have been amazing. As a creative showcase the folks who made it, it definitely is. The story is kind of a mess, but I’m not sure it really matters.

The practical effects are top-notch and the fleshy tinker toy concept is a sight to behold. I think I just wanted more Dr. West vs Dr. Hill. Otherwise, it’s the story of Dr. West’s continued experiments with Dr. Hill showing up at the end to cackle menacingly.



If you just want to see some really creative effects, lots of blood, and Jeffrey Combs chewing up every scene he’s in, then Bride of Re-Animator is for you. Abbott and Gale also do well, but they’re overshadowed by Combs in every scene they share.



Comparing Bride of Re-Animator to Re-Animator, I think that Yuzna is the better director, but Stuart Gordon is the better writer, though Gordon did have a Lovecraft story to work from.

This is a solid :ghost::ghost::ghost:1/2


Also, since this is the final movie in my Time Travel Challenge, I thought it would be worth it to share my top five:

1. The Cremator (1969)
2. Santa Sangre (1989)
3. The Vanishing (1988)
4. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
5. Wolf’s Hole (1987)

I'm not sure what it means that four of the five were in the late 80s, all in a row.


Time Travel Challenge: 31/31
Fran Challenges: 7/13
Bracketology: 7/?

Watched:
Time Travel Challenge: 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), 23. Human Lanterns (1982), 24. Christine (1983), 25. Night of the Comet (1984), 26. Demons (1985), 27. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), 28. Wolf’s Hole (1987), 29. The Vanishing (1988), 30. Santa Sangre (1989), 31. Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Bracketology: 1. Vampires vs. the Bronx, 2. The Roost, 3. Varan, 4. On the Silver Globe, 5. The Phantom of the Opera, 6. Mark of the Vampire, 7. Tigers Are Not Afraid
Fran Challenges: 1. Un Chien Andalou / The Big Shave / Kitchen Sink / Foxes / Portal to Hell!!!, 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 3. The Burning, 4. Dead Ringers, 5. Belzebuth, 6. Fright Night, 7. The Brood

twernt fucked around with this message at 18:53 on May 15, 2021

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

Fran Challenge 10. Behind the Mask

18 Ed Wood




This is for the Fran Challenge since he mentioned it and I don't recall ever seeing it I decided to watch Ed Wood. Its a good film! John Depp is very enjoyable as Ed Wood a almost every man director who has aspirational dreams to make it in Hollywood. The cast is good , the pacing of the film is good, and its nice to see a biopic that treats its characters so lovingly. It only follows Ed Wood during a brief period not his whole life. Overall really enjoyable film.

TheBizzness
Oct 5, 2004

Reign on me.
9. Holidays FC12

Horror Anthology based on and around Holidays. This has a pretty low rating on every site I checked and I don’t really understand why. It’s not Trick R Treat but it would be, at worst, the second best VHS.

The stories are almost all creepy as hell, it’s well shot, especially the Father’s Day short. There are some really nice practical effects (the Easter Bunny owns).

It’s not all gold but it’s more hits than misses and even the bad parts are at least competently made. I really don’t understand the near universal displeasure with Holidays.

Debbie Does Dagon
Jul 8, 2005



Fran Challenge: Scream, Queen!

I thought I'd try something a little different, and rather than do a review I'd do a compare and contrast of three versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray. My subjects are:

5. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) - filmin.es(EU)



4.5/5

6. Dorian Gray (1970) - Amazon Prime(UK)



3/5

7. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973) - Tubi(US)



3/5

Plot Summary

The plot of Dorian Gray is quite straightforward, and while there are certain deviations between each version, they tend to be rather minor, aiding only in accentuating certain plot points or creating a slightly different narrative flow. The gist is that Basil Hallward, an artist and a morally upstanding figure, has created a portrait of Dorian Gray, a young wealthy aristocrat, with seemingly no responsibilities, attachments, or dependents. Lurking in the background, and quipping voraciously, is Lord Henry Wotton, a sharp-tongued decadent, who reminds Dorian that his youth is temporary and that he should seize the hedonistic day. Dorian, moved by this speech, wishes that his portrait would age in his stead, and barters his soul in the process.



Dorian soon falls in love with Sibyl Vane, an actress in the source material and in the 1970 version, but updated to be a general working-class performer in the other films. As quickly as the love blooms, it soon wilts, as Dorian scorn and rejects Sybil, leading to her suicide. At that moment Dorian recognises his connection with the painting, it bears for him the wither of not only age but sin, and while his face remains youthful and fresh, his portrait begins to snarl viciously. Emboldened by this discovery, Dorian decides to devote his life to excess, safe in the knowledge that the portrait will act as his conscience, hidden away deep within his home, where he nor anyone else need look upon it.



After varying periods of debauchery, Dorian eventually confesses to Hallward that a record of his soul exists, and reveals to him the painting, now showing a deep and grotesque rictus. Overwhelmed by the guilt of his actions, and the anger it provokes, Dorian kills Hallward and bribes a friend to dispose of the body. In his grief, Dorian attends a house of ill-repute, where the brother of Sybil confronts him after 18-years, following being away at sea. Dorian uses his apparent youth to escape from the brother, claiming a case of mistaken identity. When the brother eventually realises the ruse, he goes to confront Dorian again, dying in the process.



Moved by these events, Dorian attempts to escape his life of excess, and ease his conscience, by marrying the niece of a friend. Within this change of heart, he confronts the painting and stabs it, the wound in the painting is reflected on Dorian however, and he dies, ageing in the process into the spectre that once haunted the frame. The end.

Case Comparisons

To begin with the 1945 version, I really think this is the outstanding film of the three. It's the most compelling in terms of narrative structure, it has the strongest performances, and it's the most visually impressive. While the two above portrait screenshots are in colour, the body of the film is actually in black and white. Colour is reserved for these shots alone, and it's a remarkably powerful effect that, even as a modern audience member, I was quite shocked by it. The other two films are far more ordinary in terms of appearance, cinematography, set design, lighting, it's all just very workmanlike, and barely worth commenting on. Whereas the 1945 version offers us shots like this:



I loved the performance of Hurd Hatfield as Dorian in '45 version, he plays the role with such a wide-eyed seductive innocence, that barely conceals the ravenous appetites which lay beneath his cold, unfeeling visage. It's a quality that's missing from Shane Briant ('73) and Helmut Berger ('70). Briant can be somewhat forgiven for pulling forth a televisual performance, as this is a made-for-television film, but Berger on the other hand was clearly hired for his body rather than his talent. The first moment of the '70 version, the foundation upon which the tone of the film will be set is his wooden, lifeless, mechanical, limp line-read. What makes it worst is that the film begins at the dramatic climax, the murder of Hallward. If you can't elicit emotion at even the most fraught and dramatic moment, what good are you?



Of the extended casts, the strongest players have to be the Lord Wottons of the '45 and '70 versions, played respectively George Sanders and Herbert Lom. It makes complete sense as well, as Wotton receives all of the best Wilde quips, and is just the perfect role for any character actor to sink their teeth into. Sanders especially is just effortlessly devilish and cool, it's really no surprise that he was chosen to be so scandalous in Hitchcock's Rebecca, he ruffles so many feathers and barely lifts a finger in the process. It's also wonderful to see Herbert Lom given the opportunity to be camp, and sleek, and sexual. I've only seen him in cantankerous old man roles up to now, so seeing a younger effervescent mischievous version of him was a revelation. And did I mentioned Angela Lansbury is in the '45 version, and she's a hottie? :swoon:



I keep failing to mention the '73 film, and it's not that it's bad in any particular way, it's just not extraordinary. It simply fails to stand out. Here is a film that was written by a gay man, Oscar Wilde, and containing quite obvious gay subtext, and a deep ethical back and forth, and yet the film is so dully heterosexual, and such a languid straightforward morality tale. There is a lot I didn't enjoy about the '70 version, but I can at least praise it for doing something with the subtext.



The Dorian of the '70 version is a Dorian of the Freelove movement, he is openly bisexual, and the film allows him to be sexually aggressive in a way that the other two films shy away from. None of the films actually portray Dorian as a rapist, more of a bounder, a seducer, a corruptor, but here he clearly entraps people in a haze of booze and pressure, and it's a side of the character that's worth exploring. It's worth commenting though that, of course and unfortunately, these two aspects are destined to collide in the "predatory gay" trope.



There's a lot to be said about the meaning behind these films, and of the book. Clearly, there's a lot to be said about the idea of conscience, decadence, of our duty to those around us, of the aesthetic nature of art, and whether it is better to be appealing, or to have depth. And in this spirit of deep internal reflection, I'd like to discuss twinks.



Twinks, for the two of you who might not know, are young, hairless, slender, fresh-faced gay men, and for some very normative people, they are, or were, considered the height of desirability, and for some, the idea of ageing and not being seen as desirable is a fraught worry. It's sort of an unfortunate artefact of hook-up culture that we should judge each other so coldly, and based on such a shallow reading of what is desirable. It is however easy then to draw a line between the decadent desire of living for pleasure, and the ticking clock which comes from the thought that one day we'll no longer be desirable. Lord Wotton spells it out plainly enough:

"Ah! realise your youth while you have it. Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals, of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing."

The desire then to hold on to those days, to delay the inevitable, and to ride the twink lifestyle forever must be extremely appealing to some. And I envision a Dorian who, in stabbing his portrait, is actually committing suicide at the expectation of a fall from grace, a loss of appeal, a fall from privilege, and the intermittent section between realisation and seppuku, is a meditation on the immeasurable web of harm he would gladly inflict if allowed to maintain that privilege. It's bear propaganda, in other words.



After all this, would I advise others to do a compare and contrast? Probably not. There's something rewarding in the shotgun approach, as we're likely to hit at least something we enjoy, perhaps even something a bit obscure and in our periphery... Actually yes, yes, blast wildly into the bushes! Maybe you won't hit anything, but perhaps you'll hit an old Seaman. Live bravely!

Official: 7/13
X-Files: 21/x
Fran Challenges: 1/13

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

Great writeup DDD. Looks like I picked the right version to watch. Those color shots of the portrait were just incredible.

And my dumb rear end didn't make the LGBTQ connection, so I am retroactively counting it for FC #9.

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.
:spooky: Fran Challenge 8. Dead & Buried
RIP Barbara Shelley (13 February 1932 – 3 January 2021)



Village of the Damned (1960)
Directed by Wolf Rilla
Available to rent on the usual services

Village of the Damned is most obviously a story of Cold War paranoia. Something unexplainable has happened in a small British village. One day, the entire population falls unconscious at the same time. After they wake up, the villagers discover that every person capable of becoming pregnant has become pregnant.



This causes all sorts of problems. Some of those expecting are young and unmarried. Others are older, but their partners have been away. The tension becomes thick and palpable. When the children are all born the same day and all have what the doctor describes as “strange eyes” you know something unnatural is going on.



As in many spooky movies, the dog is the first to know something wrong is happening. People in movies should pay more attention to their dogs.



Aside from the problematic sorts of stuff you have to expect in a movie of this vintage (slapping a hysterical woman, tut-tutting about savage Eskimos, etc.) Village of the Damned is commendably spooky. This is especially true once the children start to assert themselves. The children are very creepy and I love the simplicity of the special effects when they use their power — just switch to a still image and put a little overlay on the eyes.

Village of the Damned is a :ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost: for me.



Time Travel Challenge: 31/31
Fran Challenges: 8/13
Bracketology: 7/?

Watched:
Time Travel Challenge: 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), 23. Human Lanterns (1982), 24. Christine (1983), 25. Night of the Comet (1984), 26. Demons (1985), 27. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), 28. Wolf’s Hole (1987), 29. The Vanishing (1988), 30. Santa Sangre (1989), 31. Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Bracketology: 1. Vampires vs. the Bronx, 2. The Roost, 3. Varan, 4. On the Silver Globe, 5. The Phantom of the Opera, 6. Mark of the Vampire, 7. Tigers Are Not Afraid
Fran Challenges: 1. Un Chien Andalou / The Big Shave / Kitchen Sink / Foxes / Portal to Hell!!!, 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 3. The Burning, 4. Dead Ringers, 5. Belzebuth, 6. Fright Night, 7. The Brood, 8. Village of the Damned

Debbie Does Dagon
Jul 8, 2005



Spatulater bro! posted:

Great writeup DDD. Looks like I picked the right version to watch. Those color shots of the portrait were just incredible.

And my dumb rear end didn't make the LGBTQ connection, so I am retroactively counting it for FC #9.

Thank you! And I'm glad I wasn't the only person who was shocked by the colour reveal, I literally did a double take. It's amazing that those techniques are still so powerful 76 years later.

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

Debbie Does Dagon posted:

Thank you! And I'm glad I wasn't the only person who was shocked by the colour reveal, I literally did a double take. It's amazing that those techniques are still so powerful 76 years later.

When the decrepit version was suddenly revealed, it actually gave me a jump. I love that painting. I probably mentioned it in my review but I saw it on display in Chicago years ago and it was my favorite piece in the entire museum. I couldn't stop staring at it.

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

Spatulater bro! posted:

When the decrepit version was suddenly revealed, it actually gave me a jump. I love that painting. I probably mentioned it in my review but I saw it on display in Chicago years ago and it was my favorite piece in the entire museum. I couldn't stop staring at it.

I love that painting as well! Its right across from Nighthawks in the Art Institute of Chicago. ITs huge as well , I love all the little details in the picture like how there's all these gross bugs etc.. Online pictures don't do it justice.

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

15. Lurking Fear (1994)
Some of the creature effects are neat which is pretty much just me writing “that’s nice dear”. A Full Moon production under 80 minutes might as well be 3+ hours, it sure feels like it. Jeffrey Combs carries this to the finish but just barely.

:ghost::ghost:.5/5

gey muckle mowser
Aug 5, 2003

Do you know anything about...
witches?



Buglord

twernt posted:



29. 1988. The Vanishing
Directed by George Sluizer
Available on Criterion

A loved one just disappearing like that is way scarier to me than the premises of most horror films. Great movie!

gey muckle mowser
Aug 5, 2003

Do you know anything about...
witches?



Buglord


:siren:Fran Challenge #5. Cinco:siren: (this film is in English but is a Mexican film in all other ways - director, cast, crew, production company, setting, filming locations, etc)
16. Don't Panic (1988)
dir. Rubén Galindo Jr.
Shudder

Michael and his friends unwittingly summon an evil spirit named “Virgil” when playing with a Ouija board. He begins having visions warning him that his friends are going to die, but he is powerless to stop it (or maybe he just sucks at it). This is kind of a low budget Mexican rip off of A Nightmare on Elm Street, except it doesn’t really make sense and isn’t especially well made.

I did like this though and had a lot of fun with it. It’s paced well and has some pretty decent practical effects, and lots of silly moments that may or may not be intentionally funny. Watching Michael ineffectually blunder around in his adult dinosaur jammies is great dumb fun even if the movie is not great in general. It also has a very lame theme song that I thought was funny.

If you like cheesy low budget ‘80s movies I suggest checking this out.

3.5 dino jammies out of 5



17. The Hitcher (1986)
dir. Robert Harmon
Amazon

While driving cross country, a young man named Jim picks up a hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer) who quickly reveals himself to be a deranged killer. He manages to escape, but soon finds that the man is following him and killing others along the way. Jim tries to contact the police, but they accuse him of committing the murders and place him under arrest, and now he must prove his innocence while still evading the killer.

This is a pretty good movie! Rutger Hauer is fantastic and every scene with him is great, but I liked the stuff with the cops less. Cops being ignorant murdering assholes isn’t all that fun to watch, that’s just the news. Still, this is tense and thrilling, and Hauer’s creepy and fun performance alone is worth the price of admission.

4 knives in your crotch out of 5

Edgar Wright's Top 100 Horror: 97/100
Slant Top 100 Horror: 98/100
TSZDT 2020: 672/1000

Total: 17
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) (FC#2) | Warlock | Prince of Darkness | A Record of Sweet Murder | The Neon Demon | The Day of the Beast (FC#13) | The Devil Rides Out | The Taking of Deborah Logan (FC#7) | Short films (FC#1) | Don't Panic (FC#5) | The Hitcher
Fran Challenges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

MacheteZombie
Feb 4, 2007

gey muckle mowser posted:


16. Don't Panic (1988)

I love how the main character wears jammies for a decent chunk of run time.

The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog


yeah, Don't Panic is a hoot

Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

19. The Mummy (2017) Fran Challenge 2. Sometimes They Come Back



I couldn't come up with any remakes that I had not seen that were new to me so I picked this one. It stars Tom Cruise! It stars Tom Cruise? I dunno its a Tom Cruise movie about Tom Cruise fighting a Mummy. The Mummy design is actually pretty interesting. Also Russell Crowe is in it as Dr. Jekyll? Anyway I didn't think this was as bad as I thought it was going to be. This was suppose to be the start of a interconnected "dark universe' of Universal Monster films but it did so poorly they canceled all the other films. Lmao.

Opopanax
Aug 8, 2007

I HEX YE!!!


:spooky: Challenge 3: Camp Blood

7: Stage Fright


I wanted to go with something a little different and not just watch another Friday knock off. Came across this on a list and figured I'd give it a go, though I was a little wary about never having heard of it in any capacity before,but it seems like that was mainly because of how Canadian it is. The cast is pretty much all Canadian TV people, and then also Meatloaf and Minnie Driver.
It's a camp slasher set at a theatre camp, and includes a few straight up musical numbers. If I'd seen this when I was a 15 year old theater kid myself it would be one of my favourites, as is it's got some missed opportunities. Not enough music in general, Meatloaf has a lead role but only has about 1.25 songs; as a slasher it's also a bit mediocre, there's only a handful of kills and other than one they aren't particularly inventive, and if you've seen a single slasher before you'll figure out who the killer is within the first few minutes.
Overall I enjoyed it, and if you like musicals and/or were a theatre kid, there's definitely some fun to be had here.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.


27 (31). The Black Scorpion (1957)
Directed by Edward Ludwig, Written by Robert Blees and David Duncan
Watched on Svengoolie


Svengoolie Episodes: 5/13

I've really been digging these Svengoolie B monster films and was kind of amped up for this when I saw the nightmarish monster design and that the stop motion animation was done by the same guys who did King Kong and [url=https://boxd.it/13Y0>Mighty Joe Young[/url] but I dunno. It kind of underwhelmed me. I guess there's probably a limit for hokey 50s monster action but this just felt a little disjointed. The first act drags on a bit too long as none of the characters are all that interesting (besides the fact that I'm now in love with Mara Corday) and you're just kind of waiting to get to the monsters and none of this stuff really changes anything. Then there's some fun monster stuff but like right away you can see shots repeating. They apparently ran out of money and it shows because you definitely get a lot of the same scene played in reverse, or just one really awesome monster closeup played like 50 times. In the second half some other monster show up to get in fights and its random but spices things up, but apparently they were unused animations from Kong. I'm glad they were here but it speaks to this film really stretching itself out as much as possible.

This stretching out feels especially true when the film's characters finish their big, adventuring, conclusion and then there's a time jump and another 15 or 20 minutes. Suddenly we kinda get a whole new kaiju film with a ton of radio voiceover exposition, the characters standing around discussing how little impact they have on the plot, and one scorpion kills the rest of them off camera to speed up proceedings. And then the military shoots it. The end. Feels like a lot for a little.

I'm being harsh. The finale was actually pretty solid. the film had just kind of wore me out already. Obviously they didn't have as much as they wanted here and its not great that the best scene is actually a deleted scene from King Kong. But if this was 15 minutes shorter it probably would have been ok. Then again its only 88 minutes so once you start going down that road you risk cutting it below a feature film. But I just don't think there was enough meat on this, even though it did has some fun monster moments.




28 (32). The Wild Boys (2017)
Written and directed by Bertrand Mandico.
Watched on Kanopy.


Definitely don’t give a bunch of kids to some surly old hermit fish captain to do whatever he wants. That should go without saying.

This is the kind of film I probably wouldn’t have made it past 15 minutes if I didn’t have this tournament/movie club or a bunch of friends driving me to watch. In that other time and place I just quickly identify that this isn’t something I’m gonna like, bail, watch something more to my tastes, and only remember this as that film I tried but couldn’t get into and have no strong opinion about. But here I am making myself watch something that pretty early on I correctly guessed I wasn’t ever gonna get into. And the result is a pretty bad viewing experience that isn’t entirely the movie’s fault. They couldn’t have predicted me being a dumbass watching something I don’t want to and checking the time apparently every five minutes that felt like twenty to me.

Its certainly not “bad”. I kind of love the basic setup of the thing like some kind of queer Treasure Island or Lord of the Flies or Island of Dr. Moreau or… I dunno… something. Sounds interesting. And its a pretty gorgeous film, especially in the shots of the sea. The island setup is also pretty amazing even if all the sexual stuff just kind of struck me as whatever and not all that interesting. I dunno if there’s some deeper message or symbolism here and I’m certainly interested to read what other people took from it and what I may have missed. But a lot of the stuff just felt like it was there to be there and not my thing at all. There’s also some great sound work here, from The Dance of the Sugar Plum Faery playing as they arrive at land to the overall moody track. And the individual performances are strong. Probably too strong since i became convinced the actresses were actually underage at one point and had to look it up to be sure I wasn’t watching something real bad. But I’m also not sure any of them really got enough chance to build characters or do work with their skill. And if feel like you’ve probably gotta do a lot of character work if you open the story establishing the characters as all gang rapist murderers and don’t want me to just want them all to drown at sea.

But I guess I’m just kind of unimpressed by Mandico. This films really feels like less than the sum of its parts to me. Now certainly he had a hand in all the stuff I liked along with the actors and cinematographer and editor and art director and composer and everyone else involved in making a film what it is. But Mandico is the writer of a story that never hooked me and left me clueless as to what I was meant to take from it, and a final construction of film that for whatever reason really dragged for me and never made me give a poo poo about anyone or anything. I mean the film directly states its statement in the final 15 minutes but it didn’t feel especially in line or earned from the film I watched. I certainly understand why all this psycho sexual arthouse experimental stuff will appeal to many others. I’m not at all surprised that I’m a dissenting voice in the matter and I don’t really have any reason or expectation to change anyone’s mind or get them on my page. Ultimately its just very, very, very not my thing.

I don’t get it.




29 (33). City of the Living Dead (1980)
Written and directed by Lucio Fulci, co-written by Dardano Sacchetti.
Watched on Amazon Prime, available on AMC Plus, Kanopy, Night Flight Plus, Shudder, Tubi and VUDU Free.


So I’m starting to get the impassion that Fulci didn’t really think that hard about his plots or characters or settings or anything besides the cool effects he was gonna do, huh?

People told me this was basically The Beyond but with more a narrative, so I got kind of excited. Because the Beyond is a solidly creepy film even if it doesn’t make a ton of sense, but I basically am a narrative guy. So this sounded right up my alley. But now having seen both I think I prefer it when Fulci keeps things loose. There’s a plot here for sure but its not a very good one. Its like divided in half and not terribly deep on either side. And Fulci keeps interrupting it for random gore, and that’s fine because obviously that’s his thing and the main draw here. But where the Beyond just kind of leans in on it keeps it simple for that stuff this is like trying to tell this divided, intersecting plot of characters and its just not very good at it and seems distracted. Since this came before the Beyond I’d say Fulci learned the right lesson. Forget the plot, keep it simple, hell magic gives you room for taking liberties. People came for the zombies and gore.

And the zombies and gore are good, but that’s never really been my thing and its not enough of it to really hold the film together for me. Well that’s not fair. It does hold together, barely. And really every time I thought I was lost it turned out I wasn’t, that was just someone random dying. But my attention was definitely too divided trying to keep track of the plot and characters and the random gore interjections were just kind of checkpoints for me to reassess if anything was happening yet.

I get it, I do. The gore is good. Some people love gore. And as I said, you get a lot of storytelling liberty with hell magic. But Fulci doesn’t do it for me, and he’s trying to do something here he’s just not good at. Also he set his film in New England the day before All Saints Day but there’s no Halloween and that kid is wearing a Yankees jacket. What the gently caress? Kill that kid. No 10 year old in Massachusetts is a Yankee fan unless he’s demon.



🌻🎈Spook-A-Doodle Half-Way-To-Halloween ’21: Return of the Fallen & King Spring🎈🌻
King Spring: 5/13🎈Return of the Fallen: 5/13👻Fran Challenges: 3/13🐺Svengoolie: 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); 17 (20). Carrie (2002); 18 (21). The Stylist (2016)/Stucco (2019)/He Took His Skin Off for Me (2014)/Zygote (2017); 19 (22). Mark of the Vampire (1935); 20 (23). Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017); 21 (23). Death Walks on High Heels (1971); 22 (24). Maniac (1980); - (25). The Beast with Five Fingers (1946); - (26). Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); 23 (27). Summer Camp (2015); 24 (28). Man Made Monster (1941); 25 (29). Earth vs. the Spider (1958); 26 (30). Vampyr (1932); 27 (31). The Black Scorpion (1957); 28 (32). The Wild Boys (2017); 29 (33). City of the Living Dead (1980);

Tarnop
Nov 25, 2013

Pull me out

Late with write-ups? Me? Never

1. Witchfinder General
1968 | dir. Michael Reeves

Vincent Price lures you into thinking this might be in the vein of his Corman/Poe films, but this is an altogether nastier proposition. Telling the story of actually existing monstrous person Matthew Hopkins, Price rides around the English countryside proclaiming each village’s least favourite person to be a witch and killing them to the baying support of their former neighbours. Brutal and horrifying, but Price plays the role with depth and charisma.
4/5

2. On The Silver Globe
1988 | dir. Andrzej Żuławski

An absolutely wild ride from the director of Possession. BBC film critic Mark Kermode, when getting upset about unnecessarily long films, will often point to the fact that Stanley Kubrick took us from the birth of homo sapiens as a species to the birth of a new galaxy in under three hours and Żuławski here attempts the same trick but in entirely different style. “Explorers” from Earth attempt to start a new civilisation and repeat all the mistakes of the one they’re from. Other posters have talked about the context in which this was made and the reasons it’s incomplete so I won’t go into that. Suffice to say that this is an incredible achievement and while the incomplete nature does weaken it, it still hangs together remarkably well.
4/5

3. The Phantom of the Opera
1998 | dir. Dario Argento

Argento tries to do comedy horror but only about half the people involved appear to be in on the joke. His obsession with filming his daughter naked and/or having sex is deeply creepy to the point that the editor appears to have put their foot down at some point (check the cut half a second after Julian Sands’ phantom hoists Asia onto all fours during their sex scene). This is a total mess really, but it’s entertaining to watch with a group.
2/5

4. Mark of the Vampire
1935 | dir. Tod Browning

A perfectly serviceable 30s vampire flick with little to remark upon other than Lugosi doing what he does best and the neat ending.
3/5

5. Tigers Are Not Afraid
2017 | dir. Issa López

Fran Challenge 5: Cinco - Watch a Mexican horror film. Must be new-to-you.

Orphans of Mexican gang warfare band together for safety while hiding from a bad dude whose phone they stole. Initially felt very reminiscent of something like The Devil's Backbone, but really developed its own voice by the end. The visual metaphors are a bit on the heavy-handed side sometimes but so were the fairy tales that this is evoking so it gets a pass on that for me. Excellent performances from the child actors and impressive work behind the camera. Very good indeed.
4/5

Movies Watched: Witchfinder General | On The Silver Globe | The Phantom of the Opera | Mark of the Vampire | Tigers Are Not Afraid
Rewatches: 0
Total: 5

Fran Challenges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

5) Daniel Isn't Real (2019)

The tale of a young man haunted by his childhood imaginary friend. I picked this up partly from a certain curiosity as to whether Patrick Schwarzenegger could actually act or if he gets work because of his dad. The answer is probably both; being Arnie's son gave him the leg up, but like Drew Barrymore and Christian Slater he has the chops to make his own way.

As for the movie itself: the last 15 minutes did disappoint - I found myself calling off every beat a couple of minutes before they happened - and there were a couple of things that seemed to be included for effect but were hard to make sense of within the plot. But overall it was solidly made with some striking scenes.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.


30 (34). We Are What We Are (2010)
Written and directed by Jorge Michel Grau
Watched on Hulu, available on Direct TV and AMC+.


Fran Challenges 5/13

Franchescanado posted:

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

Slow and moody, this film explores some somewhat familiar territory in a somewhat familiar way, but not combined. Billed as “a stand alone sequel” to Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos on its face that’s mostly about one small character from the 1993 movie making a return to recreate a funny but small scene of GdT’s film in what mostly seems like a homage to the Mexican legend. But it seems a little deeper than that since while the horror of this film isn’t the same kind as in Cronos it does deal with it in a similar way. Cronos is a vampire tale told in a very human way. No fangs and bats and sexy monsters, just people doing monstrous things but for human reasons. Similarly this film explores the horror theme of cannibals in a very human way as a family of normal people. They’re doing monstrous things and they are monsters in the human sense, but they aren’t monsters in that horror sense. They don’t have claws or fangs. They don’t wear masks made of their victims’ flesh or swing around chainsaws or laugh maniacally at their victims. There’s a very matter of fact necessity and almost blue collar drive to do what they do. They are who they are. And yet by the time the film comes to close their home resembles any house of horrors you’d find in a Tobe Hooper or Rob Zombie film of the nature. The similarities begin and end there, but they do end there.

Its obviously a deliberate choice to not really give us what we might anticipate from the setup. We never learn what “the ritual” is. Supernatural, religious, superstitious, demonic. We’re given real no indication or closure on that obvious question. But that’s not the story being told. We’re just taken on a journey with this family as they struggle and stumble through this horrific night and their own interpersonal issues. It was almost a roundabout journey but a very organic and natural one. There’s a lot of questions I have left and a lot of things I might have wanted to see but I can’t really put any of that on this film. Grau told the story he wanted to tell, and did so well. If I have one small nitpick its that I thought Paulina Gaitán’s Sabina was the most compelling presence and I definitely wanted to see more of her young, raw, but also possibly manipulative and coldly devoted to this way of life she was presumably raised into it.

Its also a great looking film, especially for a small budget. I enjoyed the character explorations. The demanding borderline frightening mother. The “daddy’s girl” daughter who comes off as both the youngest and coldest. The wild angry younger brother. And the put upon older brother who clearly has more going on than we see. From the very beginning its clear he feels uncomfortable and restrained in his family. I think its interesting that his story takes him into a gay bar where he’s “forced” to play along for his task. There’s really nothing clearly said about it but I found it notable that his adventure plays very similarly to a lot of closeted stories of that kind. It might not have been that. It might have simply been him doing his family duty in the best way he could come up with. But he chose that way and there’s comments made by his family from his brother insulting him and questioning his sexuality and manhood to his unexplored conflict with his mother and the “why did you make me like this?”/“You were born this way” exchange. Its just another element of these characters and their story that the film only gives us a very small peak of things and leaves us wanting more.

So yeah, I liked it. Its given me a lot to think about. A lot of questions. Its very small, very slow, very deliberate in what it doesn’t shoe or tell, definitely not for everyone. But it sucked me in because it focused on building its characters and their world and in that way I think made them feel real and full, leaving me wondering about everything else in their story.




31 (35). Mercy (2014)
Directed by Peter Cornwell, Written by Matt Greenberg, Based on the 1984 short story "Gramma" by Stephen King

King Spring 6/13

What do you get when you combine a random King short story, a character vehicle for that kid from The Walking Dead, and DTV CGI quality production? Something that’s fine. Just fine.

Chandler Riggs is ok enough but he really wasn’t up to the task for the lead in a feature film. A brisk 79 minutes I went thinking “alright, a King adaption that doesn’t extend itself too far” but it might have been a little too long. There’s a lot of fun little ideas and angles here. I love the basic story here and while the film’s got that cheap CGI and production I actually thought it mostly did ok covering it up and doing what it could. I really loved the wolf and the book was a decent little thing. But this really should have been a very tight little 60 minute or so story and it spent a little too much time just dragging out some stuff we had already basically figured out. I mean I like the elements. The priest who witnessed the growing evil. The older brother doing the smart thing and evil not being happy. Gramma being pretty ruthless even with family. There’s actually not a lot I would have cut. But it feels like it all could have been a little tighter.

Actually, what was Dylan McDermott doing here? He really didn’t need to be in here. Although… I laughed.

Honestly, I hate to put it on him but it might be Riggs. But I don’t think the film did him any favors. A better actor might have carried it better. A better director might have added more zip or style to a pretty drab production. There’s a very good story in here and a perfectly mediocre film. But it definitely was lacking something. The finale relies pretty heavily on the bad CGI and falls flat. And the movie wusses out on King's ending and isn't better for it. Ultimately it just fell a bit flat.



🌻🎈Spook-A-Doodle Half-Way-To-Halloween ’21: Return of the Fallen & King Spring🎈🌻
King Spring: 6/13🎈Return of the Fallen: 5/13👻Fran Challenges: 5/13🐺Svengoolie: 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); 17 (20). Carrie (2002); 18 (21). The Stylist (2016)/Stucco (2019)/He Took His Skin Off for Me (2014)/Zygote (2017); 19 (22). Mark of the Vampire (1935); 20 (23). Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017); 21 (23). Death Walks on High Heels (1971); 22 (24). Maniac (1980); - (25). The Beast with Five Fingers (1946); - (26). Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); 23 (27). Summer Camp (2015); 24 (28). Man Made Monster (1941); 25 (29). Earth vs. the Spider (1958); 26 (30). Vampyr (1932); 27 (31). The Black Scorpion (1957); 28 (32). The Wild Boys (2017); 29 (33). City of the Living Dead (1980); 30 (34). We Are What We Are (2010); 31 (35). Mercy (2014);

Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit
Unfortunately, my employer has now blocked Something Awful because of "weapons," so I haven't been able to post as I normally would.

7) The Thing (2011), Blu-Ray

When I was reminded of my employer's rewards program, I figured this was a perfect time to snag this movie, since it was free to me. It was a really pleasant surprise that it was a lot better than I had expected it to be.

I had already known that it was a secret prequel, but I hadn't actually seen the Carpenter version in possibly about 15 years, so I didn't exactly catch most of the callbacks. It follows some similar enough beats to the Carpenter version, but it's fresh enough that you would be surprised. I actually felt that "the test" in this one was just as tense if not more, but it may also have been because this version was fresh to me.

I know the big criticism that it typically receives is that there was s a bunch of practical effects that got replaced with CGI, but I thought the CGI was fairly decent especially for 2011. There are definitely glimpses of the practical effects around the edges here and there, but, while I'm usually the first to opine CGI, I didn't find it glaring enough for the most part to complain too much.

All in all, I actually would recommend it, even if it's not as good as the original remake.

4/5

8) Frankenhooker (1990), Blu-Ray (rewatch)

Another movie from my haul of free to me thanks to work, I had seen it before some years back and loved it then, as I do now.

I don't even know what there is to say about Frankenhooker. It's something that has to be seen to be understood, and is best first experienced blind. I will say that I was surprised at how little the titular Frankenhooker was in this considering most of the movie involved our main character collecting the parts to create her.

3.5/5

9) The Thing (1982), Blu-Ray (rewatch)

Once more from the work haul. This was the Shout Factory Blu-Ray, I had been wanting to grab the Arrow version, since I felt the transfer looked warmer than the Shout version, but I found this one nice and warm to be honest. Free to me won out, so I don't regret it in the least.

If you haven't seen John Carpenter's remake of The Thing, what the hell is wrong with you? I am going to spoiler this one just in case you haven't seen the 2011 version.

This was definitely an interesting rewatch, it has been about 15 years since the last time I watched it, and it was coming off the heels of the 2011 remake/prequel.

Watching this one, I really was able to appreciate the attention to detail the 2011 version put into the Norwegian arctic base, they really id good at recreating it, including the set pieces that were no more than a minute or two in the 1982 version, so seeing what they recreated was a real treat. I think the one thing that was missed was the hosed up snowcat from the original was not at the site of the crashed UFO.


It's The Thing, I used to live for watching it yearly when it would air on the local UHF channel in the early 90's. Why aren't you watching it right now?

5/5

10) The Fly (1958), Blu-Ray

Part of the Shout Factory boxed set, and you guessed it, part of my work haul.

I didn't dislike it, but a lot of times, older movies will make me glad I grew up in the 80's and 90's when movies had a lot more going on in them, especially horror. It runs a bit slow for my tastes, and is definitely not something I would have expected to get a remake. It was nice to see the pieces that would end up becoming part of the Cronenberg version 28 years later.

I really liked the Fly's costume, sure it was 1958 cheap, but I would love to get my hands on one of those heads and arms, and be The Fly For Halloween. It was also neat to see a Detex Watch Clock in action.

3/5

The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog



25. The House that Jack Built (Lars von Trier, 2018)
I don't want to do the cliche thing and say Lars von Trier needs professional help, but like, he really does, right? I watched this for the Bracketology Tournament thread and I'll be honest, going into this week I was considering skipping this match-up entirely, but I'm glad I didn't, because despite its faults I thought it was pretty good. Jack, a serial killer, is talking through a random sampling of his victims to Virgil who is leading him, unseen, through the circles of hell. Matt Dillon does a great job as Jack, a loser who thinks he's more sophisticated than he is. We see a series of killings, varied in their gruesomeness (personally I found the taxidermied kid stuff and the stuff with Simple to be the toughest to watch), dipping in and out of Jack's life. In between and during, we get some dark comedy, talk of OCD (which Jack has) and how he thinks that impacts him, and a lot of talk about 'the artist' that someone else can write about as this is clearly Lars reflecting on his career but I don't feel equipped to get into it.

:ghost: 3.5/5


26. Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012)
Also watched for the Bracketology Tournament thread. Tina, a woman who seems to have some issues but mostly wants to be loved, goes on a road trip with her new boyfriend Chris. Unfortunately, a few bodies drop, and while it's initially played as accidents, Chris is a killer with a temper. Tina gets into it and even murders a few people herself, seeking validation, while they continue their road trip around the countryside. This was fine - it has a few great moments but a fair amount of drag, I didn't find it very memorable but it wasn't bad or anything. I liked the ending.

:ghost: 3/5

Challenge Count: 26/31
Fran Challenges: 1 (Various) 2 (Suspiria 2018) 3 (Cheerleader Camp) 4 5 (Tigers Are Not Afraid) 6 7 (Goodnight Mommy) 8 (The Clown at Midnight) 9 10 (Video Nasties) 11 12 (Tales of Halloween) 13 (April Fool's Day)

Class3KillStorm
Feb 17, 2011



Franchescanado posted:

1. Short Cuts

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

Geometria (06:31) - Guillermo del Toro (The Criterion Channel)

A great little horror short by del Toro. I loved the ridiculous squeaky voices that all of the characters had (that were obviously dubbed in later), I love the Mario Bava colored lighting scheme, I love the dumb payoff. I especially love how right after the death of the main character at the end is immediately followed with jaunty music, the perfect black humored send off. This was a great ton of fun.

5/5

The Big Shave (05:53) - Martin Scorsese (The Criterion Channel)

Simple but effective. There's something grotesquely beautiful about watching the white porcelain and shiny chrome of the sink get overtaken with first drips, then big glops, of red. It's a simple metaphor - the idea of being so committed to an action that you continue well past the point of self-harm/self-destruction - but while I know it was meant to be directly tied to Vietnam, it's open-ended enough to be applicable to most anything, even today. Haunting.

4/5

A Visit from the Incubus (26:31) - Anna Biller (The Criterion Channel)

At what point does faithful recreation end up undoing itself? Does being so committed to the big Technicolor aesthetic of the 1950s mean you need to replicate the dated acting styles of the time, as well? I haven't seen Anna Biller's full feature The Love Witch but I gather that's a common complaint - that her slavish recreations end up bringing along the worst elements of a period as well as the best. That, or she's just bad at directing actors, or only ends up getting non-actors and is not able to spin gold from straw.

This was supposed to be a big Western horror musical comedy about self-redemption and taking control of your own past and future, and it manages to come up short on literally all fronts. An overlong disappointment.

2/5


Motion Detected (07:12) - Vincent Dormani (YouTube)

I guess it's supposed to be a mash-up of the static security camera aesthetic of Paranormal Activity and the spooky ghost girl antics of The Ring, but it fails hard at being either of those. Or much of anything on its own. Also, I don't know if it's narcissism to name the central (barely functional) security system after yourself, or a black humored joke that didn't land well, but either way it made me side-eye the short hard when it was over. Not worth the time.

2/5


Mirror Gaze (09:42) - Josh Nadler (YouTube)

A grieving mother, not communicating well with her husband, turns to some New Age mysticism bull to try and contact her dead daughter, but ends up invoking something else instead. Then, because she hasn't learned to open up, she inadvertently leads the husband to summon it again himself. Short and snappy, and you can gather the depths of thematic relevance and character history with a minimum amount of screen-time or dialogue. An effective little thriller parable, even if it was shot a little flat and the spooky ghost was not at all interesting or threatening. Could be a good sign of better things to come from this director, if given better budgets (and more intersting monsters).

3/5

Damage Control (08:01) - Ryan Oksenberg (YouTube)

I guess there's a ghost and I guess there's a secret and I guess it all has to do with the abandoned, dilapidated structure The Man brings The Woman too, but nothing is explained. And not in that "well, sometimes things don't have explanations" open-ended way that needs a very sure hand to make work. This just feels like nothing is there under the hood, and that this could have stood another pass or two through the typewriter before they went out and shot it. Not impressed.

2/5

TRT of all of the shorts above: 63:53
TRT of the shorts I'd actually recommend watching: 22:09

Watched so far: The Curse of the Cat People, Freaky, Vampires vs the Bronx, Rawhead Rex, Tarantula, In Search of Darkness, Ginger Snaps (rewatch), In Search of Darkness Part II (FC #10), Mother's Day (2010) (FC #7), Scream, Queen! (FC #9), House of Wax (1953) (FC #2), Vampire in Venice (FC #8), Possessor, Mandy, various shorts (FC #1)

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.
:spooky: Fran Challenge 9. Scream, Queen!



Cat People (1942)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Available to rent on the usual services

If I had not seen this on the Pride: A Chronological History of Queer Interest & LGBTQ+ Cinema list, I would have had a much different reading of this movie. Maybe a standard “old world” vs. “new world” culture clash story, with all the God-fearing western condescension audiences apparently loved in the 40s. Now I can’t help but see metaphors everywhere I look.

She’s not gay, she’s a… witch or maybe… maybe… there’s a curse? Yeah let’s go with that.



Cat People stars Kent Smith as Oliver Reed and Simone Simon as Irena Dubrovna. They meet at the zoo and, after what seems like a very brief courtship, they get get married. While they are dating and even after their marriage, Irena avoids any kind of intimacy with Oliver, blaming an ancestral curse.

Beyond its value is a relatively early piece of queer-coded cinema, Cat People is a very stylish thriller. It was produced as a low-budget horror flick for RKO, but did surprisingly well at the box office and definitely transcends its B-movie origins. Simone Simon is terrific as Irena and Kent Smith does his best to keep up, but Oliver is just not as interesting a character as Irina.



Also, the panther was named Dynamite and I just think that’s wonderful.

Cat People is a solid :ghost::ghost::ghost::ghost:


Time Travel Challenge: 31/31
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), 23. Human Lanterns (1982), 24. Christine (1983), 25. Night of the Comet (1984), 26. Demons (1985), 27. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), 28. Wolf’s Hole (1987), 29. The Vanishing (1988), 30. Santa Sangre (1989), 31. Bride of Re-Animator (1990)

Bracketology: 7/?
1. Vampires vs. the Bronx, 2. The Roost, 3. Varan, 4. On the Silver Globe, 5. The Phantom of the Opera, 6. Mark of the Vampire, 7. Tigers Are Not Afraid

Fran Challenges: 9/13
1. Un Chien Andalou / The Big Shave / Kitchen Sink / Foxes / Portal to Hell!!!, 2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 3. The Burning, 4. Dead Ringers, 5. Belzebuth, 6. Fright Night, 7. The Brood, 8. Village of the Damned, 9. Cat People

gey muckle mowser
Aug 5, 2003

Do you know anything about...
witches?



Buglord


:siren:Fran Challenge #6. Playing With Power:siren:
18. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
dir. Paul W.S. Anderson
Amazon

After the events of the first three Resident Evil films (which this movie helpfully recaps for us), Alice finds herself trapped in an underwater research facility. In order to escape, she must travel across a bunch of video game-y levels while battling zombies and other nightmare creatures. She has help in the form of a strike team of action movie clichés who come in from the surface to extract her, with the additional goal of destroying the facility before the creatures within can escape. Or something like that, I dunno, this is a mess.

I liked the other films in this franchise well enough as middling mindless action movies, and I wasn't expecting anything more than that from this one, but it's even worse than I imagined. Constant green screen and ugly CGI, stupid slow motion fight scenes, and some truly awful acting from most of the cast (Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez are fine despite the awful dialogue). The first act of this movie is incredibly stupid and just painful to watch.

As it goes on, it gets even more game-like and actually improves a bit as it leans into the fighting and monsters and explosions and such. If the cast wasn't so bad it might've been kind of fun. Maybe. There are a lot of very positive reviews on Letterboxd about how this is a clever inverse of the franchise or whatever, but I just don't see that. Lame and dumb.

1.5 slow motion bullets out of 5



19. Saint Maud (2019)
dir. Rose Glass
Hulu

Maud, a young nurse with a traumatic past, begins palliative care for Amanda, a former dancer who is suffering from a degenerative illness. Having recently had a religious awakening (seemingly in response to the trauma), Maud attempts to save the dying woman's soul, but is frustrated by Amanda's attitude and hedonistic lifestyle. With her own mental health declining, Maud takes things, uh, a bit too far.

I've been dying to watch this for well over a year, and I'm glad to say that it was worth the wait! Morfydd Clark is really excellent, and her performance as Maud is disturbing but also sympathetic. It's a pretty slow burn, but it's tense and creepy and I never thought it dragged. It's also relatively short, which I think really helped the pacing.

It's not quite a masterpiece, but it's an extremely solid and original horror film. This is the first full length feature from director Rose Glass, and I very much look forward to whatever she does next.

4 religious experiences out of 5



:siren:Fran Challenge #9. Scream, Queen!:siren:
20. Stranger by the Lake (2013)
dir. Alain Guiraudie
Shudder

At a secluded beach that is a cruising spot for gay men, Franck encounters the handsome and charming Michel, who he is immediately taken with but who seems to be involved with someone else. Staying late one night, Franck witnesses Michel drowning his partner, but his feelings won't go away and he finds himself drawn to Michel anyway. As the police investigate the crime, Franck is torn between love, loneliness, and the facing the truth.

On paper this is a thriller, but it's a very loose and relaxed one and often feels more like a love story. A messed up love story for sure, but it spends a lot of time exploring relationships, both sexual and platonic, healthy and unhealthy. Also there's a LOT of unsimulated sex - I've seen several people describe it as gay porn with a plot. I don't think that's fair - sex scenes can be erotic without being pornographic - but it does show actual blowjobs and handjobs that end in orgasm, so just be aware of that going in. Maybe not a great choice for family movie night.

I liked this a lot, although with the very slow pacing and the sexual content it's probably not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

4 :dong:s out of 5

Edgar Wright's Top 100 Horror: 97/100
Slant Top 100 Horror: 98/100
TSZDT 2020: 672/1000

Total: 20
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) (FC#2) | Warlock | Prince of Darkness | A Record of Sweet Murder | The Neon Demon | The Day of the Beast (FC#13) | The Devil Rides Out | The Taking of Deborah Logan (FC#7) | Short films (FC#1) | Don't Panic (FC#5) | The Hitcher | Resident Evil: Retribution (FC#6) | Saint Maud | Stranger by the Lake (FC#9)
Fran Challenges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

gey muckle mowser
Aug 5, 2003

Do you know anything about...
witches?



Buglord

twernt posted:

Cat People (1942)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Available to rent on the usual services



One of my all-time favorite movies. I love that scene in particular, the lighting is so great.

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.

gey muckle mowser posted:

One of my all-time favorite movies. I love that scene in particular, the lighting is so great.

I thought it was very good! I honestly had low expectations going into it because for some reason part of my brain thinks of the 40s as being a bad movie decade when it objectively isn't. It's even in the TSZDT top 100!

Chris James 2
Aug 9, 2012


16. Wer

Tubi

“You ask how a human could do that, and I think the answer's simple: he's not human”

Good werewolf story hindered by frequent shaky cam gimmickry, which I'll basically always hate because of the original Cloverfield. Brian Scott O'Connor (bassist for Eagles of Death Metal) is compelling/at times terrifying in what is thus far his only film appearance as Talan Gwynek, the man arrested accused of a vicious attack on tourists that signs continue to point to being not exactly the work of a human

Still way better than the Boy films, The Devil Inside and Stay Alive though

****

17. Spiral: From the Book of Saw


I said at the end of Saw 3 that they should stop making Saws because they wouldn't get better than that trilogy (I stand by that last part six films later, for the record)
I said at the end of Saw 3D The Final Chapter that they should stop making Saws (having had Two good endings to the story by that point and yet continuing to go on)
I begged at the end of Jigsaw for them to stop making Saws (still my least-favorite in the franchise, I think?)

Now my most controversial take yet on the franchise: Chris Rock kinda rejuvenated my interest in wanting to see more Saws?

Spiral is the most explicitly ACAB Saw yet in ways I at times found almost endearing to see. Throughout the franchise you'd had crooked cops, incompetent cops, and cops that wound up being accomplices with the Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell, who for the first time in the franchise is actually really not in this one. You get a picture of him shown, that's it. Not even a voiceover this time. It took Six full films after his character's death for them to finally move on), but it was usually either filler scenes or the final twist ending, one last gotcha before you're on your way out the theater

In Spiral, it's just about inescapable: a whole department, mostly white, who have members ranging from incompetent to ignorant to racist, all acting like they're doing what they can and need to to get by, while people who need their help suffer on the sidelines. At times intentionally ignoring, at others actively malicious, planting evidence, shooting first and asking questions later. None of it's new to hear about, of course. But it all takes its toll on Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), a detective who's spiraling further into a state of shock and depression as he realizes what he worked with good intentions in his heart his whole life to do, to be, may not be the place for him. May not be a system he's capable of fixing. He's running low on friends, on people he can trust, and on time to stop a killer taking out the few ones he had left

This all sounds very intriguing for a Saw film! Which is part of the problem: it's not just the new killer's voice, very little of this feels like an average Saw film. It simultaneously amounts to the most refreshing the franchise has felt in a long time, but the most confusing in tone as well. It's a detective drama more than anything else, but also the kills when they occur are still as brutal as any Saw horror film, but also Chris Rock gets in some punchlines and has some scenes that would fit in in any one of his comedies

Ultimately the main problem I have with Spiral: From the Book of Saw, the one that keeps it from being great, is it tries to do too much. Which, considering the franchise's history, is a great problem to have. I look forward to the next one. I haven't said that in a long long time

****

17/13 (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, Oxygen 2021, The Djinn 2021, Wer, Spiral: From the Book of Saw)

Spatulater bro!
Aug 19, 2003

Punch! Punch! Punch!

:spooky: Fran Challenge #11 - Myths & Legends :spooky:

#18

Alligator
Lewis Teague, 1980



It plays off the urban legend of flushing an alligator down the toilet and (with the aid of a shady pharmaceutical company) it mutating into a giant man-eater. Robert Forster - whose receding hairline is inexplicably a point of interest of everyone he meets - plays our hero, and he does a good job helping us take this shlock seriously. The mid section drags a bit, but when the alligator action starts up it's pretty great. The filmmakers opted to use scaled down models to make the gator appear larger, and it's a mostly successful technique. Combined with a decent looking creature puppet, the effects work. I'm glad they stayed away from blue screens and composition shots. I liked this. It's stupid fun.

3.5/5



#19

The Terror Within II
Andrew Stevens, 1991



It's pretty much just like the first one in terms of filmmaking adeptness (read: low), though the budget appears to be higher as the creature effects are more convicting and more abundant. It also has both the best looking beard (R. Lee Ermey's) and the worst looking beard (Andrew Stevens') I've ever seen.

Good beard:


Bad beard:


2.5/5



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), 11. Prince of Darkness (1987), 12. What We Do in the Shadows (2014), 13. The Devil's Advocate, 14. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), 15. Madman (1981), 16. The House That Dripped Blood (1971), 17. The Evil Dead (1981), 18. Alligator (1980), 19. The Terror Within II (1991)

8/13 Fran Challenges completed: 2. Sometimes They Come Back, 3. Camp BLOOD, 7. Mother's Day, 8. Dead & Buried, 9. Scream, Queen!, 10. Behind the Mask, 11. Myths & Legends, 12. Cavalcade of Creepiness

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Hollismason
Jun 30, 2007

Witchfinder General

20. Warlock Fran Challenge 11. Myths & Legends



I really love this movie. Julian Sands is fantastic as a Warlock or male Witch that travels to our time to collect a grimoire that has the name of god. What I love about this is all the world building and weird stuff that is in this. Really though its got a great cast and story. Also some pretty great 80s special effects. Well worht the watch. Also some of the myths in it about witches is all kind of made up whole cloth ecepting a few things. Anyway great movie.

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