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15. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla  Godzilla isn't a part of my local culture and I didn't see any of the movies as a kid. After learning about Big G through the magic of the internet I watched a few as a teenager, but by then it came off as kinda childish. Guys in rubber suits mashing toy towns, it looked like Power Rangers and that was a kid's show. I think there is a window where you are enchanted by the giant lizard and destruction and this will stay with you, instead of rolling your eyes at the hokeyness, cheap effects and childish storyline, which I sadly missed. I thought Godzilla 2014 was great and since then I tried a few more, but aside from the original, some of the over-the-top silliness in Final Wars and the absolutely fantastic Shin Godzilla it just doesn't appeal to me despite loving the idea of it. My kids wanted to join in on some spooky movies this month and I figured this would be safe pick. My son loved G14, he thought Mechagodzilla looked awesome in Ready Player One, and it got me out of watching a Freddy or Jason movie for the challenge. Seeing him enjoy this is what really opened my eyes to what I missed out on. He was excited the whole time, shouting during the fights, talking about it for hours afterwards, saying it must be one of the greatest movies ever. I didn't really see it, it was exactly what I thought before; childish, hokey, something that could've been great but just isn't serious enough. Still, through him, I enjoyed it a lot more than I ever would on my own and that was a great experience. Counted for :FREDDY VS. JASON 20TH ANNIVERSERY CHALLENGE 16. Infinity Pool  Wooooow, what a trip. I enjoyed Possessor and I really dug this too. Great concept, people going off the rails, lots of stuff to unpack. I watched this together with a friend and we didn't talk the entire time. Agreed to meet up next week and discuss it, because I keep thinking about it and so does he. I keep thinking about sin-eaters. 17. Climax  I feel like repeating what I wrote about Infinity Pool. This was also quite a trip and people went off the rails. Not as much to unpack and I do think it could've trimmed 10 minutes from the start, but the very, very long finale is definitely worth it. I was curious about the unique feel and reading about the production this was all quite different from how movies are normally made. The dance troupe is full of LGB persons and the boundaries they set, or don't set, are an integral part of the conflict later on. Counted for HORROR IS FOR EVERYONE LGBTQ+ Counted for HISTORY LESSON 2 3/3 (10s) 
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Oct 16, 2023 15:19
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Crescent Wrench posted:Oh come on. It's okay to embrace the schlock, but there's a middle ground between a musique concrčte soundscape and dollar store Looney Tunes music. Friday the 13th movies are silly, but they aren't scored by an oompah band. Do you have any ideas how many period movies get lovely modern music and you're really gonna poo poo on the one soundtrack that got it right? My person, who I usually agree with, this is some Cinema Sins rear end "Thing was different from my incorrect assumptions" take. The soundtrack was done with period accurate 19th century instruments. That's why it sounds like that. The problem isn't the movie, the problem is you don't like 19th century music.
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Oct 16, 2023 15:43
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Xiahou Dun posted:Cinema Sins Goddamn, that hurts, no need to get the claws out!
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Oct 16, 2023 15:56
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Crescent Wrench posted:Goddamn, that hurts, no need to get the claws out! <3 you, hoss. I'm sorry.
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Oct 16, 2023 16:07
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 Freddy vs. Jason I actually managed to get close to a full marathon of both series last week, so that was fun. No time to write them all up, but it culminated in Freddy vs. Jason. One thing I enjoy about Freddy vs. Jason his how it does a decent job of actually combining the worlds of both series. You have Springwood's ongoing efforts to suppress Freddy's memory and that is really the core of the plot, but then you also have plenty of Jason stuff in there too. You get a short appearance from Jason's mother, and the finale takes place at Crystal Lake so it really does feel like a hybrid of both. As the years go by the parts that don't involve Jason or Freddy get tougher to watch, there's no doubt about that. Still, for me there is enough actual Freddy vs. Jason stuff to make it worth revisiting from time to time. After all the years of wishing and wondering if it would ever happen, they made sure fans came away satisfied that they'd seen a proper Freddy vs. Jason mano a mano showdown. And I think the resolution to all that was handled perfectly, Jason fans want to see their boy overpower Freddy, but Freddy fans want to be reassured that you can't ever keep him down for long. It's certainly a fun movie to watch when you've just finished a marathon of the series' because it was easy to feel the weight of the history behind it and remember the legitimate hype that came with it in 2003.  Creepozoids This was an easy call for the video store challenge, this is a poster that's been catching my eye for a while now when I browse around on Amazon Video. I went into it without knowing that Linnea Quigley was one of the leads, and that's always a very pleasant surprise. It's delivers on what I expected, which is to say that it's very low budget and clearly shot over like a long weekend, yet still has a good amount of imagination and creativity to it. The monster holds up in some shots better than others, obviously it can't really move convincingly so there's a lot of cutting but the design is pretty solid. I wonder if Stan Winston saw this movie because the head/face design on the monster here is very similar to his design for The Relic. I watched this at like 2am because I couldn't get to sleep and that's probably an ideal situation for this kind of movie. Still, I'm glad I did watch it and I'd recommend it as long as you go in with the right expectations. Watched: Child’s Play, Curse of Frankenstein, Fright Night, The Meg 2, Revenge of Frankenstein, Poltergeist, The Pope’s Exorcist, Prince of Darkness, Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism, Comedy of Terrors, Hood of Horror, A Nightmare on Elm Street, NOES 2: Freddy's Revenge, Freddy vs. Jason, Creepozoids
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Oct 16, 2023 16:12
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Whee let's do some catch up from the weekend. For the record, the show within the movie looks terrible Rec ; Paco Plaza and Jaume Balageror (2007) I just wanted a nice solid little film I hadn't touched in an age, and look at this! I'm not really big on found footage as a gimmick, but here it's an integrated part of the story and it works really well. It did make me really want to watch this and Quarantine at the same time just to see how it lines up. I don't understand why that movie exists besides Americans refuse to read subtitles, and that being the reason is a pretty scathing indictment.  The most elaborate anti-smoking ad. Deep Blue Sea ; Renny Harlin* (1999) Deepest, bluest, Lo my hat 'Tis like the fin of a shark It's a very good very dumb movie. The sharks got so smart they can go backwards now! The thing they can't do because of how their bodies and fins work : just clevered their way out of it. Hadn't touched this since it was in theaters and I was little not-even tween Xiahou Dun, and an increased knowledge of science and character actors just improved it.  Some truly high-quality character acting in this Zodiac ; David Fincher (2007) It was on Blank Check and I hadn't touched it since I watched it in a theater in Taiwan. (Where I think it might have been edited.) I remembered liking it but that was the extent. Yeah, definitely Fincher's best movie. loving gorgeous. I'm using this as my adjacent if that wasn't obvious, but I think I can defend that with how brutally banal the murders are. Anyone who wants a creepy and interestingly paced thriller for the month, you should consider (re)watching Zodiac. It holds the gently caress up. *As if it's not the most Renny Harlin movie to ever ren a harl.
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Oct 16, 2023 16:12
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 11. Halloween (2018) A competent slasher, steeped in callbacks, that finds some of the dark ominous simplicity and intense kills of the 1978 original. But it's also a Republican-rear end movie. Jamie Lee Curtis' character is vindicated for raising her daughter in survivalist hell, the vigilante impulse to strike the killing blow herself is contrasted against the incompetence of government authorities to keep evil in check, and of course the effete Euro liberal media types who want to podcast and understaaand the psychology of the killer get brutalized. The first Halloween was easily read as a critique of suburban isolation; the evil was coming from inside the neighborhood, that same sort of neighborhood that people fled to in order to escape the supposed dangers of urban living. Now this sequel valorizes a fortress mentality; you can only save yourself and your family by bunkering up even harder.   / 5Challenges: The Samhain Challenge  12. Dracula (1931) This Dracula could have been a lot shittier and Bela Lugosi's sinister, entrancing stare would still have probably become a pop culture icon. What a role! Gorgeous gothic moodiness in the beginning, built by long silences and beautiful background mattes and the sumptuous ruin of Dracula's castle. That delectable purestrain spooky is sustained all the way through Lugosi prowling the foggy streets of London and selecting his prey. Then it slowly deflates once the plot gets around to Helen Chandler as Mina Seward. Instead of beautiful set pieces we're just kind of hanging out in a parlor for a long stretch of picture. There's a weirdly slack energy to the way Dracula keeps popping in to antagonize the same people in the same place and then peacing out again. The film has to lean on mesmerism rather than physical action to convey the vampire's power, and even though Lugosi sells that amazingly every time he's in frame, the vibe of lurking danger slips away after he gets chased out by mirrors or a cross. It's hilarious rather than horrifying when a character looking into the distance narrates how Drac changed into a wolf out of frame to scarper away; very convenient for the VFX budget! Fortunately the atmosphere picks up again for the finale. The ending is still a little limp but at least we're back in a cobwebbed crypt with a crazy staircase. I think Dracula probably pushes the definition of "a classic" to its limit but still qualifies by virtue of Lugosi's legendary, genre-defining performance.    .5 / 5Challenges: History Lesson (1930s) 
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Oct 16, 2023 16:36
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I'm also way behind on my writeups so I'm just going to knock a bunch out right now. 7: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986) First watch. Years and years ago, when I was probably in middle school, I caught the opening of this on Encore or during a free HBO weekend and when we got to Cook winning the chili cookoff despite the judge finding a human tooth in their chili I thought "this is corny, gently caress this" and turned it off. Finally I've come back to this. It is dumb, and it is corny, but I guess it was supposed to be. I think this works better than a poe-faced sequel to TCM would have, and Chop-Top is an all-timer villain but this still kinda drags. I'm counting this for the video store challenge because I mean come on   .5/5Challenges: BACK OF THE VIDEO STORE CHALLENGE✔️ meta challenges: NEW-TO-YOU 5/6 HISTORY LESSON 2/5 (but only because somehow I forgot to count either of the F13 movies I watched earlier as 80s 8: The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) First watch. Knowing that royalty payments would be changing for any pictures produced after January 1st, 1960, Roger Corman decided to whip out one last movie where he could rip off his actors. He reused sets from A Bucket of Blood because there was a 2-day window before they were getting torn down and he figured he could get in there and scrape something together. This movie's fine, it has a charm to it, but it's kind of inexplicable how this was able to lead into a self-aware musical and a legitimate classic film pseudo-remake. I have a very vague memory of watching Little Shop (presumably the Frank Oz version) but seeing a version of the ending where the world gets taken over in black and white and wondered if that came from the original version it didn't, this one ends with Seymour getting eaten and then Audrey Jr's flowers open up and the victims' faces are all flowers now. Dick Miller's a completely inconsequential character who just hangs around eating flowers and he still almost steals the show. /5Challenges: THAT GUY” CHALLENGE FEATURING DICK MILLER AND KEITH DAVID✔️ meta challenges: NEW-TO-YOU 6/6✔️ HISTORY LESSON 3/5 9: Scream 2 (1997) Rewatch. I hadn't seen this one in over 20 years and couldn't really remember what happens other than Liev Shreiber gets a much bigger role (boy, they really lucked into getting him for that tiny role in the original, huh?). It's the mid-late 90s, Sarah Michelle Gellar movies roam the land, wild and free. Baby Timothy Olyphant and the star of Sliders Jerry O'Connell show up in this one, along with Roseanne's sister and a few familiar faces. The Dewey/Gail romance still doesn't really work despite the actors actually being together. Hey, Jamie Kennedy actually dies this time! This one still holds up pretty well, I understand why it didn't have the cultural cache that the original had but it's a worthy follow-up if slightly more obvious. /5Challenges: Nothin' meta challenges: HISTORY LESSON 4/5
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Oct 16, 2023 16:40
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 #48.) The Brotherhood IV: The Complex (2005; Plex; dir. David DeCoteau) One man stands alone against the elite Black Skulls unit at a private military academy. A David DeCoteau film, with a young man stripping down to his white boxer-briefs within the first eight minutes. He's not the only one to do so, unsurprisingly. There's also high-school style wrestling, which you would think would show up more often in DeCoteau's films; maybe insurance gets higher for such a strenuous activity. A character with the last name Thanos is the main antagonist, and since it's a military academy, everyone refers to him by his last name, so that added some amusement value. The Black Skulls clique is demonically empowered, big shock, and things get really homoerotic around the seventy-minute mark, as multiple members of the group assist in disrobing the new initiate, but aside from that, things are pretty laidback and sleepy. Oh, and the cabal uses an Alienware laptop, and they can shoot lightning (evil lightning) out of their stomachs. It's a definite step up from the third entry in the series, but it recycles from so many of DeCoteau's other films that it's still hard to work up that much enthusiasm. “I don't want you to be like me, I want you to be better than me.” Rating: 4/10
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Oct 16, 2023 17:16
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Not doing anything close to 31 this year as I'm not up to it, but I'll watch a few. 1) The Oldest View (2023) Challenge: Bite-Sized Horror A three-parter from Kane Pixels of Backrooms fame. Runs just over an hour in total, most of it in part 3. It follows the usual pattern of one of his shorts: someone with a handheld camera finds a liminal space, they wander around it for a while getting creeped out by the impossible geometry of it, then a weird mechanical thing shows up and they fall down a hole. It's one of the better entries in terms of the exploration, but the Rolling Giant is risible and at this point I feel like I've seen it all before. I'm not looking forward to his upcoming movie. 2) Dura Lex AKA By The Law (1926) Challenge: Picnic At Hanging Rock ... In Space! Meta: Around the World (Europe), History Lesson (1920s), New To You (1/6) A Russian movie based on a short story by Jack London, recently remastered into 4K by Redwood Creek Films. The plot is fairly unremarkable and the acting is, well, silent era acting - although Vladimir Fogel brings great intensity as the murderer Michael Dennin. My real interest in early films like this is how they helped create the language of cinema, and this entry stands out for that. It has some great exterior cinematography, and a surprising number of rapid cuts including what may be the earliest use of the flash cut technique when a scene of Edith under stress has a brief flash of her face contorted into an insane grimace spliced into it. It looks its age, to be sure, but it's still remarkable. Being set in the 1850s, this movie was a period piece when it came out. 3) The Seventh Curse (1986) Challenge: Back of the Video Store Meta: Around the World (Asia), History Lesson (1980s), New To You (2/6) Picked this one up without knowing anything about it purely on the strength of it being a martial arts horror movie starring Maggie Cheung and Chow Yun Fat (although he's barely in the movie). If that's not enough to qualify it for this challenge, there's also a girl with nice tits on the cover. It's one of the Wisley series, in which one of the disciples of the great master investigates a weird mystery and more often than not, ends up kicking the poo poo out of it. In this installment Yuen, a playboy doctor and kung fu expert who has an exceedingly large number of glass-topped tables in his home for people to be thrown into, is informed by an intruder (after a fight, natch) that he has been placed under a demonic curse which will make him die horribly unless he is able to rescue the winner of the 1986 Miss Thailand Wet T-Shirt contest from an evil priest who seeks to sacrifice her to his ancestors. Before you can say "these reels are in the wrong order" our hero, accompanied by a spunky female reporter who he totally fails to get off with, finds himself battling demon foetuses, blue eyed skeletons and hordes of Buddhist monks in pursuit of his quest. If you've ever seen Big Trouble in Little China - and if not, why not - this is exactly the kind of movie that inspired it. It's a bit hokey, very silly, scenery is chewed with gay abandon and it's generally a good time. Medium-strong recommend.
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Oct 16, 2023 18:48
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Crescent Wrench posted:Goddamn, that hurts, no need to get the claws out! Sorry to dogpile, but there are a few opinions it is possible to be just plain incorrect about, and the Ravenous soundtrack is one of them.
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Oct 16, 2023 19:07
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Xiahou Dun posted:It did make me really want to watch this and Quarantine at the same time just to see how it lines up. I don't understand why that movie exists besides Americans refuse to read subtitles, and that being the reason is a pretty scathing indictment. I know this is the general opinion and I don’t doubt there are people who have ugly or ignorant reasons for rejecting subtitles but I kind of want to push back a little as there’s lots of reasons it might just affect someone viewership. Personally I watch foreign films and always choose subtitles to dubbed but there’s a absolutely an added hurdle of disconnection that gives me with the characters and films and I’ll sometimes find myself reading more than watching. It’s an extra track of attention and while I’m sure some people have no problem with that and I have gotten more used to it with time I don’t think it’s an indictment if some people prefer something easier. And then like there’s other reasons. I pick out movies to watch with my mother and I can’t do any subtitles movies because she struggles to keep up with the pace of the reading the whole time. Like I said I’m sure some people reject foreign films out of hand because of ugly ideas and cultural stubbornness. But I dunno. People make films more accessible for a reason and I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with just wanting to relax with a film and let it come to you. And subtitles and language barriers do sometimes provide an extra hurdle.
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Oct 16, 2023 19:07
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#38: M3GAN (2022) (new to me) An advanced android becomes too attached to a little girl and you'll never guess what happens. Not all horror movies have to be "fun," but isn't it great when they are? A well-executed throwback to the mid-80s slasher where the kills are all people you want to see killed. Nothing against the Ti Wests and Ari Asters of the world, but sometimes all you want is the chance to say "Oooh, you're gonna get it" and then see it get got. Maintaining the PG-13 rating means the kills are not as gruesome or scary as they could be, but M3GAN herself makes up for it. She's delightfully creepy in all the right ways — a pre-fab horror icon. From the fact she never blinks to the emotionally manipulative language she adopts, everything about her is upsetting and it's awesome. Not all of the story beats land perfectly, but having this little rubber-masked freak Terminator-walking from victim to victim more than makes up for it. Here's hoping for four or five increasingly-weird sequels. /5#39: House of Dracula (1945) (rewatch)  Dracula and the Wolf Man seek cures from the same evil doctor and you'll never guess what happens. An improvement over House of Frankenstein in that all three monsters get to stick around until the end of the picture. I'm not a fan of John Carradine's Dracula — he makes no attempt at an accent and the top hat makes him look like the Amazing Mumford from Sesame Street. Also, they made the mad doctor's assistant a hunchback just so they could add another "monster" to the poster, lol. .5/5October Challenge Tally: (new watches in bold) 1. Trick 'r Treat (2007) 2. Motel Hell (1980) 3. TerrorVision (1986) 4. Halloween Kills (2021) 5. Nightmare City (1980) 6. Spookies (1986) 7. Dawn of the Mummy (1981) 8. Halloween Ends (2022) 9. Demons (1985) 10. Demons 2 (1986) 11. Assignment: Terror (1970) 12. Black Roses (1988) 13. Here Comes Hell (2019) 14. Death Spa (1989) 15. Paganini Horror (1989) 16. Hellraiser III (1992) 17. House of the Wolf Man (2009) 18. Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) 19. Blades (1988) 20. Delirium: Photo of Gioia (1987) 21. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) 22. Hocus Pocus (1993) 23. House on Haunted Hill (1959) 24. Popcorn (1991) 25. Maximum Overdrive (1987) 26. Van Helsing (2004) 27. The Addams Family (1991) 28. Octaman (1971) 29. Eyes of Fire (1983) 30. The Howling (1981) 31. Evil Dead II (1987) 32. Phantom of the Opera (1925) 33. Friday the 13th Part III (1982) 34. Friday the 13th Part VII The New Blood (1988) 35. Jason X (2001) 36. Blood for Dracula (1974) 37. Flesh for Frankenstein (1974) 38. M3GAN (2022) 39. House of Dracula (1945)
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Oct 16, 2023 19:15
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 #49.) The Brotherhood V: Alumni (2009; Plex; dir. David DeCoteau) Time to take this series into high school slasher territory again. There's a cute touch where the characters are introduced at the start by their yearbook groupings. It became less cute when it became apparent that it was being used to skip actual introduction or personality establishment for the characters. Instead, we get dropped cold into a masked killer stalking a guy through a school after prom. With all the wandering down school hallways, I was having bad recollections of the third film in the series, and then someone headed to take a soapless shower in white briefs (with the lights off) within the first twelve minutes, and it was clear that DeCoteau was in his element. Cue a group pact to cover up the murder of shower-man, even though they don't know who did it, and jump forward a year for the rest of the film. It's probably worth noting at this point that all of the actors look a good decade older than the age of their characters. The rest of the movie is loaded with POV flashbacks to the night of the murder, filling in events from the different perspectives. Not a bad idea for story structure, but there's so much repetition and so little added with each flashback that it's much more of a tiresome endurance test more than an intriguing thriller mystery. On the upside, there's some actual gay smooching, instead of just the showers and belly-rubbing which usually suffice in DeCoteau's films. About eighty percent of the scenes take place in dark rooms tinted blue, which makes the occasional warmly-lit room feel like it was cut in from another movie. Oh, and Greg Sestero is in this, too. But it's shot, mixed, lit, and edited competently, and manages to get to the twist in its finale without tripping over itself along the way, so... could be worse. “Do you know why I left you? Because I don't want to end up with my mother.” Rating: 4/10
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Oct 16, 2023 19:30
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Sunday catch-up also means the end of the Individual Challenges for me.Basebf555 posted:
 #21. Brain Dead (1990) (Tubi) A brilliant neurosurgeon with a paranoid streak teeters on madness when he believes his latest patient has stolen his identity and a strange man is stalking him. I picked this option because of that weird stretch faced guy, yes, but also because of the names attached to this project. Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman? It's a Battle of the Bills! And Bud Cort is never a bad thing to have on any project; nor George Kennedy. This is a pretty decent stable of journeyman character actors and solid supports that the film has going for it. You'd imagine that the amassed actors would be able to pull something interesting off here, and that the possibilities of the reality-bending premise would allow you to come up with some cool shots/ideas. Unfortunately, the script ends up letting everyone down, as the whole thing lurches into being "Babby's First Jacob's Ladder*" while also being very obvious about the directions a story like this can take. (There were like 3 avenues a story about a mentally unstable person playing God while tampering with people's perceptions of reality could go in. Eventually, the film does try and stop on all 3.) The whole thing ends up feeling pretty scattershot and unfocused. Coupled with the cheap effects on the low budget and the pretty bland cinematography, and the whole thing only ends up feeling like a better-than-average Full Moon joint. Which is disappointing, considering the talent involved and the open-ended possibilities of the premise. I looked up director Adam Simon after this was over, and saw he directed Carnosaur, one of my most hated movies ever, so I guess that explains a lot, in that the fact that this film ends up being disappointing is no longer surprising. *Yes, I know they came out the same year. It's not gonna stop me drawing parallels.  /5 #22. Saloum (Shudder) A group of mercenaries, carrying a cartel boss and half a million dollars in gold, has to land in Saloum, Senegal. Old secrets begin to surface, and then things just get worse from there. Wow, this one surprised me. It's an incredibly effective horror/action/thriller blend, and it wasn't until about halfway through that it struck me that it most resembled a modern-day, African-set take on Predator. Remarkably well-paced and shot, I realized I was watching something unique and special when I drew a parallel in my brain to the "Resident Evil" games and only thought of it as a good thing. (For what it's worth, I thought of that when the heroes had to go out and get into a gun fight with the weird locust zombies that were running around to kill people via an infection of pure evil - I guess? - and how that lined up, in my brain, with "Resident Evil 7" and the later stages being populated with weird goo zombies. Puerile and shallow of a reference point to be making, I know, but them's the lines that my brain was drawing.) I'm not well-versed enough in African folklore or myth-making to know if the locust zombie plague of evil thing is a reference to anything or not, but it still struck me as cool imagery and beside the point to try and dig in on it; a cool cinematic image should be universal, and watching heroic action guys go out to gun battle weird monster designs is a universally good thing. This has been the most pleasant surprise of this month, and possibly of the whole year, so far for me. /5 So that's an entry for Africa for the Around the World meta-challenge, which brings me up to 4 total. Finishing off the Individual Challenges also let me complete another Bingo, this time with the left-to-right diagonal line. Only a few more entries and then I'll be done with this Bingo board entirely. Watched so far: As Above So Below, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, Saw IV, The Exorcist, One Cut of the Dead, Slugs, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Saw X, The Return of the Living Dead, Tales of Halloween, No One Will Save You, Destroy All Monsters, Cujo, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Hocus Pocus, A Bucket of Blood, Mama, Child's Play 2, Friday the 13th Part 6, The Mummy's Ghost Individual Challenges = 13/13 NEW-TO-YOU = 6/6 HISTORY LESSON = 5/5 AROUND THE WORLD = 3/4 HORROR IS FOR EVERYONE = 1/3 Class3KillStorm fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Oct 16, 2023 |
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Oct 16, 2023 19:34
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STAC Goat posted:I know this is the general opinion and I don’t doubt there are people who have ugly or ignorant reasons for rejecting subtitles but I kind of want to push back a little as there’s lots of reasons it might just affect someone viewership. Personally I watch foreign films and always choose subtitles to dubbed but there’s a absolutely an added hurdle of disconnection that gives me with the characters and films and I’ll sometimes find myself reading more than watching. It’s an extra track of attention and while I’m sure some people have no problem with that and I have gotten more used to it with time I don’t think it’s an indictment if some people prefer something easier. And then like there’s other reasons. I pick out movies to watch with my mother and I can’t do any subtitles movies because she struggles to keep up with the pace of the reading the whole time. Not sure if it's changed, but for the longest time M had subtitles that were just white text so you'd have some words blend in with the scene. And while it does help being a fast reader, there has been times where I had to reverse a bit because I missed something on screen because there was a lot of text. I do think that the amount of people who are all 'eww reading...' has dwindled significantly over time, but sometimes especially after a long day you just want to sit back and let the brain go into coast and rest. I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.
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Oct 16, 2023 19:39
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30. Prince of Darkness 1987 Directed by John Carpenter  CHILDHOOD TRAUMA I've got a message for you and you're not going to like it. Prince of Darkness is the first movie that I can remember actually scaring me and it was my go-to movie as a teenager if someone else wanted to watch something spooky. It holds up really well despite the fact that a few of the cast members are really phoning it in. Victor Wong and Donald Pleasence more than make up for it, especially their office conversation about the nature of reality. The intersection of quantum physics and spirituality still feels ahead of its time. I've seen it before but it's been a really long time and the end is not what I remembered at all. 👻👻👻👻/5 Personal Challenge 22/22 1. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989); 2. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995); 3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998); 4. Halloween: Resurrection (2002); 5. Halloween (2007); 6. Halloween II (2009); 7. Halloween (2018); 8. Halloween Kills (2021); 9. Halloween Ends (2022); 10. A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989); 11. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991); 12. New Nightmare (1994); 13. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010); 14. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984); 15. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985); 16. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986); 17. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988); 18. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989); 19. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993); 20. Jason X (2001); 21. Freddy vs. Jason (2003); 22. Friday the 13th (2009) Individual Bonus Challenges 12/13 CineD HORROR THREAD POLL CHALLENGE - Halloween (2018) FREDDY VS. JASON 20TH ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE - Freddy vs. Jason (2003) PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK…..IN SPACE!!! - Jason X (2001) BIRTH OF HORROR - Deadbeat at Dawn (1988) ROB ZOMBIE 20TH ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE - Halloween (2007) ”THAT GUY” CHALLENGE FEATURING DICK MILLER AND KEITH DAVID - The Premature Burial (1962) THE EXORCIST 50TH ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE - Antrum (2018) HORROR ADJACENT - Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959) WHEN ANIMALS OF UNUSUAL SIZE ATTACK! - Razorback (1984) BACK OF THE VIDEO STORE CHALLENGE - The Night Eats the World (2018) CHILDHOOD TRAUMA - Prince of Darkness (1987) THE SAMHAIN CHALLENGE - Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) Meta Bonus Challenges 2/4 NEW-TO-YOU 6/6 - Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989); Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998); Halloween: Resurrection (2002); Halloween II (2009); Halloween Kills (2021); Halloween Ends (2022) HISTORY LESSON 4/5 - A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989); Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991); Friday the 13th (2009); A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) AROUND THE WORLD 1/4 - Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) Total 30/31
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Oct 16, 2023 19:42
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12. Godzilla (2013( Gonna be honest I still feel like poo poo ,but I'mma try and power through to 31 films this year. Not sure if I'll make it. Anyway this is a perfectly good Godzilla movie. ----------------
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Oct 16, 2023 20:47
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Hollismason posted:12. Godzilla (2013( I honestly think the MUTOs are among the better monsters big G has fought.
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Oct 16, 2023 20:49
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Godzilla should have let the MUTOs gently caress, in my opinion
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Oct 16, 2023 20:51
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Mover posted:Godzilla should have let the MUTOs gently caress, in my opinion Serizawa: "No, let them f-" *power immediately goes out in the theater*
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Oct 16, 2023 20:53
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M_Sinistrari posted:Not sure if it's changed, but for the longest time M had subtitles that were just white text so you'd have some words blend in with the scene. And while it does help being a fast reader, there has been times where I had to reverse a bit because I missed something on screen because there was a lot of text. I do think that the amount of people who are all 'eww reading...' has dwindled significantly over time, but sometimes especially after a long day you just want to sit back and let the brain go into coast and rest. I was a die hard subs guy and then my eyes started going. I choose the dub option most times because I don’t want to be reminded of how tough it is for me to read text at a distance now. The accessibility options on modern TVs help a lot with that (being able to put a backdrop on subs has been a godsend)
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Oct 16, 2023 21:24
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M_Sinistrari posted:Not sure if it's changed, but for the longest time M had subtitles that were just white text so you'd have some words blend in with the scene. And while it does help being a fast reader, there has been times where I had to reverse a bit because I missed something on screen because there was a lot of text. I do think that the amount of people who are all 'eww reading...' has dwindled significantly over time, but sometimes especially after a long day you just want to sit back and let the brain go into coast and rest. Yeah. I mean I'm not gonna sit here and list all the possible entirely reasonable reasons why someone would have problems with a subtitled film like bad eyesight or reading slower or a small tv or whatever. But they're there and I just think its dismissive to just default to the idea that everyone who doesn't watch a foreign film is doing it for a damning reason.
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Oct 16, 2023 21:29
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 23. Def by Temptation dir. James Bond III (1990)  Sad to say I was pretty disappointed by this one. Some great imagery courtesy of Ernest Dickerson, but a mediocre script, poor pacing, and just awful acting from director James Bond III as the lead. Every scene he's in he drags everyone else's performance down with him, just all the worst Amateur Actor Tics at every moment, and they're already working overtime to save some pretty clunky dialogue. There's some really talented people involved with this but if the director can't tell he's total dead weight from watching the dallies you're in trouble. Honestly I also find the incorporation of HIV/AIDS into the plot to be pretty cynical and lacking insight or exploration, it's basically just a punishment for one guy who's a creep. The film doesn't really say anything actually interesting about sexuality or desire in general. /5, and a thematically colored red cocktail to enjoy. Completes watching a film by a black director for Horror is for Everyone in the meta challenges. Challenges Completed (11/13): 1. CineD Horror thread poll GOAT Goats (REC from Tapes list, Ringu from House List), 2. Horror Adjacent (Night of the Hunter), 3. That Guy (Keith David in The Thing), 4. Exorcist 50th anniversary (Exorcist III), 5. The Birth of Horror (Trauma in Minneapolis), 6. Animals of Unusual Size (Godzilla and Anguirus in Godzilla Rides Again), 7. Rob Zombie (Dawn of the Dead's Zombies), 8. Back of the Video Store (Sole Survivor), 9. Picnic in Space (History of the Occult, period piece), 10. Bite Sized Horror (Creepshow), 11. FVJ (Friday the 13th (1980)) Meta Challenges (16/18): New to Me (6/6), Around the World (4/4, Europe/Asia/Australia/South America) History Lesson (5/5, 2000s/1950s/2010s/1980s/1990s) Horror's For Everyone (1/3, POC) Bingo card 22  Bingo number 4!    
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Oct 16, 2023 21:43
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Late coming to this, I was on vacation in Japan for the first two weeks of October, but gonna watch several movies in the time that remains. Won't be able to hit 31, but can get to 15 or so and knock out several challenges.
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Oct 16, 2023 21:44
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27. House of 1000 Corpses (2003) I loving love this movie. Is it any good? Ehhh. But it's a movie that just goes hell for leather constantly. It's Rob Zombie just doing whatever the gently caress he wants on the company dime, and despite it never really coming together as an actual movie, it's way up there in terms of vibes-based stuff. I'm glad it exists just so we have evidence that weirdos like us are out there and could maybe someday get lucky enough to get enough money to make something as loving strange as this. Also Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding is a loving treasure in every scene he's in, RIP. "Don't forget to take home some of my tasty fried chicken! It just tastes so drat good!" 4 out of 5! Watched so far: Saw X, Wishmaster, F13 Part 6, One Cut of the Dead, The Exorcism of God, The Stuff, Razorback, The Curse of Frankenstein, Demon Knight, Freaky, V/H/S, Trick 'r' Treat, Goodnight Mommy. Matriarch, Last House on the Left, Phantasm, Dude Bro Party Massacre III, Exorcist: Believer, No-One Will Save You, VHS/85, Hellraiser, Totally Killer, Beaten to Death, Hellraiser II, Annabelle: Creation, Unfriended: Dark Web, House of 1000 Corpses
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Oct 16, 2023 21:51
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Over the years I've come around to the opinion that House of 1000 Corpses is better than The Devil's Rejects. They're very different films of course, a bit of an apples to oranges comparison I guess.
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Oct 16, 2023 22:00
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Devil's Rejects hangs together better as an actual movie, but 1k Corpses is just so much more fun to watch.
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Oct 16, 2023 22:01
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STAC Goat posted:Yeah. I mean I'm not gonna sit here and list all the possible entirely reasonable reasons why someone would have problems with a subtitled film like bad eyesight or reading slower or a small tv or whatever. But they're there and I just think its dismissive to just default to the idea that everyone who doesn't watch a foreign film is doing it for a damning reason. When did we start talking about dubs vs subs, exactly? Because I was talking about Quarantine the 100% Americanized remake. I made fun of Americans for being uniquely loathe to read subtitles. Most other countries are much more willing to watch them, they’re in fact pretty normal, and if you think they don’t have disabled people that’s sort of on you to prove. Considering how many words you had to put in my mouth, are you even really arguing with what I said in that post?
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Oct 16, 2023 22:02
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I see that there's an issue being debated on this page, say whatever you're gonna say but don't carry it over to the next page, tia
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Oct 16, 2023 22:04
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Basebf555 posted:I see that there's an issue being debated on this page, say whatever you're gonna say but don't carry it over to the next page, tia Ravenous stinks like a butt and the music sucks!!!!!
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Oct 16, 2023 22:23
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 #50.) The Brotherhood VI: Initiation (2009; Plex; dir. David DeCoteau) A group of frat boys and pledges head to a cabin in the woods, where a lumberjack begins killing them. Released the same year as part five in the series, this one has significantly more energy and homoeroticism. Like having the pledges strip down to their underwear for the hazers, even while they're being asked “Do you still want the chicks?” And then the hazers begin lightly spanking them with planks, while acting as though the blows are being delivered with force. Kind of uncomfortable to see a forced blood-brother cut-mingling scene from a gay director in the twenty-first century, though. The dovetailing between the director's kink indulgence and the slasher side of the movie actually isn't too abrupt or disconnected. Jokes like looking out for a guy with a hockey mask give things a touch of self-awareness, while the actual attacks and kills tend to take place in a matter of seconds. Things get a little ludicrous when the survivors begin wandering the woods in their underwear, looking for clues, but by that point, the tone of the movie's world is set enough for it to feel somewhat fitting. There's actually some work done with backstory and motivations, which feels like a nice little accomplishment in the final film of the series. Hell, it might be more motivation than there was in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. Fewer enchiladas, though. “Stop! What are you doing to me? That's not part of the initiation!” Rating: 5/10
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Oct 16, 2023 22:36
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 22. Trick R Treat (2007) (Rewatch) Definitely one of the better modern anthologies and I especially like how the stories are interwoven instead of the more typical frame story -> short 1 -> frame story -> short 2 type of thing. I really enjoy the deranged Dylan Baker and the college girl stories (both twists feel a little obvious but they're just a solid good time). I can't see Brian Cox and not think of Succession anymore, maybe Sam just wants a kiss from daddy. I will say that Sam looks pretty goofy (in a bad way) under the mask, and the school bus story isn't great, but otherwise this is still a good time. 4/5 23. Star Time (1992) Henry Pinkle becomes suicidal when his favorite TV show is canceled until a mysterious old man named Sam Bones offers to make him a TV star if he stays alive and does what he's told. Unfortunately Sam Bones tells Henry to put on a creepy baby mask and go on an axe murdering spree across L.A. This has some really creepy moments (especially when Henry is talking to walls of TVs or wearing his mask), some parts give Videodrome vibes. The pacing is slow (especially for something under 90 minutes) but I guess that's low budget for you. John P Ryan is great as Sam Bones. The theme song over the end credits is loving bananas. Definitely an underseen gem. 4/5Total Watched: 23/31 Completed Challenges: CineD Horror Thread (Basket Case), FvJ Monster Mash (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man), Samhain (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), Back of the Video Store (Destroyer), Birth of Horror (Silver Bullet), HIFE POC (Scream Blacula Scream), Bite-Size Horror (V/H/S/85), HIFE Women (Totally Killer), That Guy Dick Miller (A Bucket of Blood), Horror Adjacent (Life), Childhood Trauma (Pet Sematary), Rob Zombie (World War Z) Outstanding Challenges: Picnic in Space, Exorcist Anniversary, Animals Attack, HIFE LGBTQ New To You: 14/6 (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Terrified, Hour of the Wolf, Destroyer, Gaia, Scream Blacula Scream, American Gothic, VHS 85, Shin Godzilla, Totally Killer, A Bucket of Blood, Life, World War Z, Star Time) History Lesson: 9/5 (1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s) Around the World: 4/4 (South America: Terrified, Europe: Hour of the Wolf, Africa: Gaia, Asia: Shin Godzilla)
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Oct 16, 2023 22:55
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 100) God Told Me To - 1976 - Shudder A series of random murders happen in New York City where each murderer claims 'God told me to'. I came across this as a Cohen film I'd never seen before and it goes places I never expected. The police procedural parts are a bit dry, but then when it gets to the cult and then onto the homicidal alien messiah it's so far off the rails it's jumped onto a track in another county. It's a film that really needs to be seen more just from how unique it is.  101) The People Under the Stairs - 1991 - DVD This is one of my favorite Craven films. Story follows the robbery attempt on the on the neighborhood's strange landlords only to uncover disturbing secrets inside their house. Those secrets are they're actually incestuous siblings and they've been abducting children only to lock them in the basement when they break their rules. I feel this one because been I've been in the situation that Fool and his family are in with the money's tight and out of the blue the landlord decides to kick everyone out. Most recently was at my last place where the landlord took advantage of quarantine to just not renew the leases of everyone who was on fixed income or under the old rent prices and had been there for years. We were told that 'you've been here long enough, time to move on'. With how much they've jacked up the rents after we all found somewhere else, it's clearly a 'we want a different class of people here' move. This film's solid. Everett McGill and Wendy Robie completely sell the image of messed up rich landlords. The ending is very satisfactory. Craven based this on a real case where robbers broke into a house that had been keeping children locked away in the basement. A high recommend from me. I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.
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Oct 16, 2023 22:57
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12. Phantasm (oct 16) somehow all i had seen of Phantasm prior was the silver ball kill: it was included on some "best-of on-screen physical kill effects" compilation dvd i had from some magazine. the kill is still great! the whole movie is great! fantastic weird fiction, and it's loving WEIRD, some whacky ideas that are just tipped enough to "absolutely unnerving" rather than goofy. it plays like a dream from start to finish, a sort of half-Lynch half-Spielberg nightmare. the clash of 70's fashion with the synth-heavy main theme, the bizarre sets and mansion layout, it makes it feel out of any specific time. the story is cascading nightmare logic, all unnecessary exposition is chopped out in service of BIG MOOD, all grief and unspoken young man angst. an American Giallo, sort of. the plot details aren't important - the film presents just enough exposition, then gives the imagination fuel to do the rest. it's also just straight up fun to look at  reggie heroically rescuing a whole group of ladies offscreen is one of the most hilariously perfunctory plot resolutions ever the soundtrack stone cold rocks too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8WVc-sbXso goddamn what a movie! alf_pogs fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Oct 18, 2023 |
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Oct 16, 2023 23:19
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Crescent Wrench posted:Ravenous stinks like a butt and the music sucks!!!!! No! No! You're wrooooooooonnnng!
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Oct 16, 2023 23:24
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45. Cube (2021) Finally, bad remakes of foreign horror aren't just for Americans anymore. This movie is... frustrating. I don't think the original Cube is some kind of untouchable masterpiece, but it's a sharply original film with great production design, a strong enough cast (with some...notable flaws), some strong twists, and at least one particularly intense and well-done scene. The Zero Escape game series, which I love, notably takes concepts from it and the Saw series and uses them to great effect. I'm not immediately against horror remakes when you consider the success of movies like The Fly or The Thing. But man, for everything this movie sets up and does better or at least uniquely differently from the original - replacing the pretty bad mentally disabled character with a young child, making the cast Japanese archetypes to tell a story about Japanese culture, changing up the occupations and backstories of the cast, the better score, or the really interesting scene where a video wall plays the trapped characters' traumatic memories - it makes a decision that torpedoes the goodwill it otherwise builds. It all leads to a twist, much like the original, but this twist feels uniquely...conservative. Like watching an old uncle rant about Kids Today in movie form. I didn't like it anyway but I especially didn't like it when compared to the original movie's much stronger antagonist twist. The new ending is also extremely odd, feeling like a twist for twist's sake, adding an explanation to a movie that powerfully never needed one before. It's a shame. There's a lot that could be done with the Cube concept. This just certainly wasn't it. Rating: 2 Prime Numbers Out Of 5
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Oct 16, 2023 23:34
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Xiahou Dun posted:When did we start talking about dubs vs subs, exactly? Because I was talking about Quarantine the 100% Americanized remake. You said there was an American remake because “Americans refuse to read subtitles which is a scathing indictment”. And I said there’s plenty of reasons why someone would have trouble reading subtitles or engage more with a film in their own language or where they can understand the words coming out of the characters mouths. And now you’re saying I’m saying there’s no one outside America with such problems or reasons? I’m sorry I ever engaged.
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Oct 16, 2023 23:44
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19. Lucky (2020) I wanted to watch something I could confidently and definitively count for Horror is for Everyone - Ladies and it’s screenwriter/star Brea Grant’s birthday today! Hooray! Natasha Kermani directs (and the lady from Kermani’s V/H/S/85 segment, “TKNOGOD”, makes a brief appearance in this too). It’s about a woman who is attacked nightly by the same masked man—whether she kills him, whether he’s chased away, whether he gets a few good shots in—and the way other men and authority figures don’t seem to believe her or care that much. It’s not subtle! I think it’s well-made though, and surely some fellas need to hear it. Grant’s performance is really good and there are some creative moments I dug. *~*~*~*~*~*~
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Oct 17, 2023 00:15
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| # ? Jun 18, 2024 22:10 |
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 #51.) The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974; digital; dir. Roy Ward Baker & Chang Cheh) Vampires are a problem in China, Dracula is involved, and Peter Cushing plays just the character to help solve the troubles. A semi-legendary collaboration between Hammer and Shaw Bros., the merging of their respective emphasis on atmosphere and fight scenes doesn't fit together all that well, unfortunately. Neither do their filming styles; it looks as though different film stock was used for the scenes without Hammer actors, and the different approaches to lighting make it stand out even more. The attempts at mixing the mythologies are respectable, though it's best if you don't think about them too closely, while the Dracula doesn't come close to Lee's portrayals. The sheer ambition of trying to mix the two studios goes a long way in providing charm, though, as does the weirdness of the warrior vampires. Where things really do come together is the sets. Saturated hues of lighting, flaming torches, statuary, exterior shots of buildings, graveyards... It all looks great, and adds a lot to the sense of occult adventure. The costumes don't quite measure up, but they're not bad, either. It's the characters which come out the most affected by the failure to fit. Aside from the warrior brothers, hardly anyone has a substantial sense of personality, and while Cushing is his reliable, enjoyable presence, even he doesn't feel like he has much agency. The final showdown is a disappointment, but then again, it didn't have much built up beforehand to let it play out in a larger fashion. Glad I finally saw this, and there were aspects I liked, but overall, it was a let-down. “Strike at their hearts!” Rating: 6/10
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Oct 17, 2023 00:42
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