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 Frankenstein(1931) Well, we're into the good stuff now. Proper October viewing time. I've watched this for every challenge now going on at least 5 years, so it's tough to say anything I haven't said already, let alone all of the many posts by others who have enjoyed it. The only way to criticize this movie would be to compare it to the perfection of it's sequel, but judged on it's own you can easily see why it's so iconic. One thing I will mention that came to mind because of the Mummy sequels I've been watching, but the work of Jack Pierce on Karloff is crucial to the whole film. In a lot of these monster movies the makeup artist throws out subtlety in the name of speed or cost or a desire to draw attention to their work. But Pierce manages to walk the tightrope where the makeup is certainly very impactful but at the same time it still gives Karloff the ability to convey a wide range of very clear emotions. And that's what drives the movie. If Karloff isn't able to inject so much emotion into his facial expressions and convey them through the makeup, the whole thing would've been a failure. Part of the reason I watched Frankenstein so early in the month though is my next selection, which I'd never really sat down and watched all the way through, and I noticed is available on Prime.  Mary Shelley's Frankenstein(1994) Obviously this was made on the heels of the success of Coppola's Dracula, but in the end it only made about half as much at the box office and critics were very mixed on it. Compared to Dracula, it hasn't really maintained a place in hearts of horror fans and I feel like it's mostly forgotten. There's some good stuff here though. It has a dark, gothic feel that I love, and the production design is really top notch. I never really liked DeNiro in the scenes I saw years ago, but sitting down and watching the performance from start to finish I have a hard time criticizing it. He's probably the most genuine emotional presence in the movie. But as much as I do like the aesthetic, there's still no getting around the fact that this just isn't up to the same level as Coppola's Dracula. In Dracula, he directed himself and he had a single-minded obsession with creating everything in-camera. It led to some absolutely fantastic and innovative shots that were extremely memorable, and there's nothing like that in Frankenstein. The screenwriter, Frank Darabont, lays the blame at Branaugh's feet. His thoughts are on the wiki page for the film if you want to read them in full, but he said "...the best script I ever wrote and the worst movie I've ever seen. I don't know why Branagh needed to make this big loud film...the material was subtle" Branagh can't be all bad though, credit to him for throwing in the nod to Cushing's Frankenstein with the wheel in the background of the laboratory.  1. The Mummy 2. The Mummy's Hand 3. The Mummy's Tomb 4. The Wicker Man 5. Hellraiser 6. The Mummy's Ghost 7. The Mummy's Curse 8. The Relic 9. Frankenstein 10. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
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Oct 2, 2020 16:39
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Franchescanado posted:Fran Challenge #1: Horror Noire  #5. Blacula (Amazon Prime) African prince Mamuwalde is cursed with vampirism by Count Dracula in 1780. In 1972, Mamuwalde is reawakened in Los Angeles and begins stalking a woman who looks identical to his deceased wife. It's a shame that the film's name works against it right from the get go, relegating it to the bin of easily overlooked movies or "Simpsons" jokes. There's a pathos to this movie, a wounded dignity that the film is carrying with it. A lot of that has to be credited to William Castle, who is one of the best tragic vampires ever put on screen, he of unbent regality even in the face of losing everything that he had (un)lived for. It's easy to root for him, since he's as much victim as villain in this whole thing. Credit also to Thalmus Rasulala as the Van Helsing stand-in, who goes from modern medical man to skeptic to believer in a pretty convincing manner throughout. He's a wonderful counterpart to Castle, similarly distinguished but more laconic, shrewd and conniving in approaching the situation. That said, while it's possible that the film's title has worked against it in terms of respect, it has granted it a certain pop cultural longevity, a half life as an easy joke that people watch and then get turned around on. Of course, the flip side to that is that the film is nearly 50 years old at this point, and some of it's callow attitudes can be shocking for how callous and casual it is. The number of times a certain homophobic slur gets tossed around in easy conversation - and by our hero a couple of times, no less! - was both surprising and rankled me more than I expected. (Also, this is another film where things end immediately upon the antagonist's death - "oh, he died. CREDITS ROLL NOW!" - which always annoy me.) I dunno. It's a film that surprised me with it's inherent pathos and dignity, but that doesn't mean that it gets to punch down even further to maintain its sense of propriety. It's worth a watch, but you have to keep in mind that it is still a cultural artifact; sometimes they surprise you, but maybe not always in the way they intended.  /5Watched so far: The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Rabid (1977), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Blacula
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Oct 2, 2020 16:43
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It' fun to see everyone's reaction to Blacula. I was really surprised by it and how much it takes itself seriously through out. I thought it was gonna be this cheesy joke film. The best part of the thread is reading people's different reactions to films.
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Oct 2, 2020 16:58
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Scream Blacula Scream is also good btw
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Oct 2, 2020 17:00
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MacheteZombie posted:Scream Blacula Scream is also good btw Yea that's what I'm gonna watch for the challenge because I've already seen Blacula.
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Oct 2, 2020 17:05
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#9: 1936 Dracula's Daughter It starts strong. Like Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula's Daughter picks up right where the previous one ended and adds a dollop of humor. The idea of Van Helsing being arrested for killing Dracula is great, and the title promises a sexy lady vampire. I am fully on board. Unfortunately it turns out not great. Van Helsings story is sidelined and he never even goes to trial, the sexy lady vampire is pretty unimpressive, and the male lead is a total flatline. Really the titular sexy lady vampire is the problem. Unlike Dracula, Dracula's Daughter doesn't enjoy being a vampire. She takes no joy in being evil. So all of her vampire scenes are dull. She never really has the upper hand on the guy, she gets pushed around by her assistant, she just doesn't have much presence or menace or anything. Overall boring and forgettable. 9 Movies Watched: Dracula, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, King Kong, Son of Kong, The Bride of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London, Dracula's Daughter
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Oct 2, 2020 17:32
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I have the total opposite opinion of Dracula's Daughter , mainly because its one of the earliest example of queer horror.
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Oct 2, 2020 17:39
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Here's a trailer narrated by TIM loving CURRY that presents a Paramount Network lineup that could be used to supplement this thread for those of you who have it. https://twitter.com/FreddyInSpace/status/1312066673214660612 Although some of these are really, really, really not horror films. Also, gentle reminder, the Scream Stream thread is also up. If you just can't decide what to watch on a weekend night, let this goon horror marathon shock and delight you!
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Oct 2, 2020 17:44
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Hollismason posted:I have the total opposite opinion of Dracula's Daughter , mainly because its one of the earliest example of queer horror. Ditto. Whenever the Countess is on-screen my heart lights up. There's a lot to be said for the sad, mournful, romanticly tortured vampire archetype, especially when they're queer-coded.
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Oct 2, 2020 17:52
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The Car (1977) James Brolin and his mustache must stop an evil car that's killing the people in his town. This was a rather silly little film. One positive is the titular car itself. Designed by George Barris (designer of the iconic Adam West Batmobile), it's an impressive vehicle. Unfortunately, that's all it has going for it. The orange tinged POV of the car is goofy, the obnoxious air horn of a horn isn't as intimidating as the film wants it to be. And the car stunts aren't all that impressive, save one The Car flips itself to take out two pursuing police cars. At one point the film just uses sped up footage to make it seem like everyone's driving faster than they are. That cast is just there, with the only real stand out being Kathleen Lloyd as Brolin's girlfriend and a teacher at the local school. Her taunting The Car as it tries to attack her students during a parade rehearsal is a stand out moment, as is her death, when The Car leaps through her living room The film introduces plot points, then drops them for whatever reason The Car will literally target anyone who curses it, and I mean in a "Hey, shithead" kind of way. Also The Car won't drive on hollowed ground, and then they do nothing with that There's also a rather distasteful subplot with R.G. Armstrong as an abusive husband who the police have to rely on to help destroy The Car, and celebrate with him at the end. It's typical 70s fare, something that would've been shown on a Sunday afternoon on local TV. 2 out of 5 Tadpoles. Watched on Netflix Davros1 fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 17:54
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 # 2 XTRO (1982) This British oddity has gotten recent attention thanks to the enthusiasm of RLM. Is this really an overlooked gem, though? My answer: Sort of. There's a good movie somewhere in this mess of different ideas poorly strewn together - it has its moments. I enjoyed the unique take on "alien" abduction - a father tosses a stick in the air and (this is just my interpretation), by freak accident, a hole is torn in the fabric of the cosmos, sucking the man into a different world where gruesome beings exist. I won't use that annoying capital L-word, but these beings are not necessarily ETs. Does the name Xtro derive from "extra", as in extra dimension? When movies productions are a clusterfuck, you are left with a jigsaw puzzle of half-abandoned ideas and must make deductions like this - I don't think the name is ever mentioned. A big chunk of time is devoted to a child endowed with telepathic powers (because that's what the movie does, it spits out new things without explanation) and becomes abruptly sinister, Damien-like. Hey, whatever can distract the viewer from the fact that Xtro's best bullet, the monster, had its biggest scenes in the first 15 minutes of the movie. But boy are they great! Throughout the movie there is an amateurish synthesizer score which adds to the weirdness, oftentimes annoying but occasionally effective - a representation of the movie as a whole. GRADE: C-
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Oct 2, 2020 17:54
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Hollismason posted:I have the total opposite opinion of Dracula's Daughter , mainly because its one of the earliest example of queer horror. Is there anything to that outside of that one scene where she gets the girl to undress? Debbie Does Dagon posted:Ditto. Whenever the Countess is on-screen my heart lights up. There's a lot to be said for the sad, mournful, romanticly tortured vampire archetype, especially when they're queer-coded. My problem is that the movie goes out of it's way to make her not seem powerful. Outside of hypnotizing that one cop she's almost always less powerful than the men in the scene. Even though she's a century old vampire with magic powers. Gripweed fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 17:57
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Davros1 posted:The Car (1977) I have a soft spot for this movie, because it was one of my mom's favorites and we watched it together one Sunday afternoon on a UHF station 
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Oct 2, 2020 18:08
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Gripweed posted:Is there anything to that outside of that one scene where she gets the girl to undress? I don't doubt your criticisms because it's certainly a compromised work. There are undoubtedly other people who are more qualified to speak on this than I am, but we are talking about a movie made under the Hays Code era. There's a lot of obfuscation and kneeling to the dominant social mores going on. There are subtleties within the film though which, to the right eyes, are quite tantalizing.
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Oct 2, 2020 18:18
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15. The Creeping Flesh (1973)  A Victorian Gothic Horror not by Hammer or Amicus, I do say! This is a pretty good film it stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Cushing plays a scientist who discovers the origin of evil! Overall I liked this film , there's some middling in it in regard to sub plots that are not very necessary for the overall film , but its still kept my attention. Its worth it because Cushing and Lee of course both turn in excellent performances. If you like scientist horror then this is definitely for you although its rather light on the horror front. It does have some memorable scenes in it that will leave a impression. 15/31 Halfway there!
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Oct 2, 2020 18:24
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 #28) Annabelle: Creation (2017) The story of how an evil doll got evil, because a doll-maker's daughter was too dumb to not wait for a truck to pass before picking up a lug-nut. Better than the first Annabelle, at least, thanks to a larger number of characters involved in the story, the vibrance of the dry plains and isolation of the farmhouse setting, and more efforts to develop an atmosphere. There's still an over-reliance on jump scares, but the director's willing to let the dread percolate in shadows for a little bit before launching a screamer or popping up a ghostly face. Something about pushing the time period back even further also clicks better for me, though it raises some issues if you care about continuity between these films (if Annabelle was a unique, hand-crafted doll, how was she one of an entire line that the woman in the first Annabelle had been looking for?). And other parts of the movie also don't hold up to more than cursory examination, right down to the fundamentals of the plot, not that many people are gonna have the inclination to waste their time thinking about them. Character actions in the moment are frequently stupid beyond the level which would be excused by 'They're scared!' and there are moments of attempted scares which come off as laughable (“Your soul!”, for example). Still, the haunted kid's room was another piece which worked for me, feeling like something from one of the mid-tier Amityville sequels. And none of the performances are particularly bad, not even from the child actors. All the same, it's hard to care about any of it past a certain point, when the director's basically run out of gas and only has sting moments to keep goosing it along.  Rating: 6/10Watched on gey muckle mowser Blu-ray.
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Oct 2, 2020 18:28
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STAC Goat posted:4. Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970) The best part about Five Dolls For An August Moon is the soundtrack by Piero Umiliani, the dude who wrote Mahna Mahna. It sounds like he's getting paid extra for every instrument he adds to the score.
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Oct 2, 2020 18:36
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3. Maniac (The Last Drive-In version) This made for a nice companion to my recently watched New York Ripper, which mainly concentrated itself on following the police tracking the unknown killer. Here it's the opposite, taking the always interesting approach of showing the killer from early on, taking out the element of surprise. Sadly, it doesn't do much with the given opportunity to add an interesting narrative in its place, but the performance by Spindell is constantly engaging and the sfx are top notch. The end is a mess, but it gave a great excuse for the final 'kill scene' so I guess I'll forgive it. I appreciate that the relationship between Frank and Anna existed purely for financial reasons, which explains why it makes absolutely zero sense on screen. I kinda respect that utter disregard for quality in the chase for funding! ***
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Oct 2, 2020 18:36
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:# 2 XTRO (1982) The first time I watched XTRO was under a horrible flu/fever and I was conked out on pain meds as well. This was probably the most optimal way to experience XTRO. Under a fever and vicodin. what a time that was.
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Oct 2, 2020 18:49
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I need to get around to the Xtro movies. They look like my sorta jam
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Oct 2, 2020 18:53
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MacheteZombie posted:I need to get around to the Xtro movies. They look like my sorta jam They're absolutely batshit.
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Oct 2, 2020 18:56
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Well, the first one is. Second and third are pretty inconsequential.
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Oct 2, 2020 19:11
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(2/31)The Mummy (1959) 5/10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy_(1959_film) Beautiful colors. Old time score. Stereotypes, oh my.. Peter Cushing was a delight to watch, as was George Pastell. Christopher Lee was .. silent  A lot of explaining in the middle of the movie. Slow and wooden, but I liked the atmosphere. (extra 1) Child's Play (2019) 6/10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child%27s_Play_(2019_film) Fun! Expected more from Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill was cool as the voice. More jokes than expected. Smart adaption to the internet of things time. Music was unremarkable. Brian Tyree Henry was nice! Tomorrow: Basket Case (1982) Watched (31): 1. The Blob (1988) 5/10 2. The Mummy (1959) 5/10 Watched (extra): 1. Child's Play (2019) 6/10
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Oct 2, 2020 19:13
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4. Spookies Watched On: YouTube Another favorite of the horror thread that I'm watching for the first time. Like Demons, it feels like someone jammed three movies together and put the result on screen, but there's an absurdity to Spookies that I really appreciate. A child gets buried alive by a werewolf with a prosthetic hook. The soundtrack sounds like someone occasionally jabbing a pair of tongs at a Casio keyboard. One of the late night partiers is inexplicably like twenty years older than everyone else. There are shambling clay-like zombies that they just play fart noises over. The creature effects are all pretty good for such a seemingly low-budget movie. I was particularly impressed by the spider lady makeup though the subsequent exsanguination of the film's ostensible comic relief was less impressive. But overall, I had a fun time with this pretty bad movie. EDIT: wait what the gently caress this actually WAS two completely different movies edited together? That makes this even wilder. Lumbermouth fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 19:17
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Fran Challenge #1: Horror Noire  #13) Ganja & Hess What a fascinating movie this is. Honestly, after knowing only the barest amount about 70s Black cinema, and horror specifically, I was expecting something a lot more exploitational. Even Blacula, which is a fantastic high brow movie in its own right, seems to be played with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek-ness to it. But, Ganja & Hess is something different. It's a very earnest and serious movie about, well, vampires. I don't feel the least bit qualified to speak on any of the cultural significance or symbolism of this movie as it related to Black culture, but I can say that there were some strikingly poignant moments that stuck out to me. The juxtaposition of photos of jazz artists alongside Renaissance paintings. The reading of "Letter to a Young Black Man". The way that sensual moments between these two characters were played so sweetly. I wish this movie were as well known as other 70s Black films, because it's really a gem. 4 / 5 Total: 12 1. Don't Look Under the Bed (1999) / 2. Mom and Dad (2017) / 3. Daughters of Darkness (1971) / 4. Snuff (1975) / 5. Southbound (2015) / 6. The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974) / 7. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) / 8. Last House on the Left (1972) / 9. The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) / 10. Poltergeist (1982) / 11. Dead of Night (1974) / 12. The Shining (1980) Fran Challenges Done: 1
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Oct 2, 2020 19:30
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 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) "You don't read the book. It reads you." I put off watching this for some time because I was worried that a CGI-filled, PG-13 telling of the stories that scared me as a kid would seem pretty toothless. I was right. It's totally fine but not memorable, and the vast majority of the scares are just your basic jump scare. Kind of a bummer. 2/5SA October Horror Challenge Count: 11/40
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Oct 2, 2020 19:36
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Re: Fran Challenge 1 https://twitter.com/verymimi/status/1179135888699400192?s=21
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Oct 2, 2020 19:40
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7. The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) I enjoyed the first one. I enjoyed about half of this one. McG actually puts together some nice looking shots and the setting was cool. I'm glad there was actual buckets of blood thrown at people in this, lol. The downside is McG over indulging in some really bad stylistic choices. Like the dance number and the fight scene. Just really awful decisions that drop this one down a hole. I could live with the humor of this flick, it got a good number of laughs. Juda and Jenna are excellent with what their working with, and like last time Robbie steals the show by having just an absolute blast as the hunky psycho. The finale was super bad though. I was almost willing to let the previous two scenes mention slide, but that ending is just terrible that all the flaws of the movie jump out with it. edit: shoutouts to Andrew Bachelor and Ken Marino as well 1.5/5
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Oct 2, 2020 19:42
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T3hRen3gade posted:Aya Cash Completely unrelated to horror or the challenge but she's wonderful in You're the Worst. Debbie Does Dagon posted:I'll try to keep this short, which is apparently a challenge for me so far. I'm always really impressed at the depth and insight you (and others) bring to the thread, length is not a concern! 5. The Owners (2020)  A group of incompetent thugs prepare for an easy score, a safe filled with money inside the old doctor’s mansion. But they forgot to check what genre of film they are in, and nothing ever goes well for home invaders in a horror movie. It’s ok! These thugs are fully incompetent, and completely in over their heads. Unfortunately, everyone is pretty unlikable, which leaves you with not a lot of people to cheer for. The problem I have is that if I don’t really feel sympathy for one side, the (mild twist) eventual switch isn’t going to work very well. Other films have handled the sympathy switcheroo far more deftly. And the final twist was far too obvious to be interesting. Maisie Williams is pretty good as the one person who shouldn’t be there. Sylvester McCoy is pretty great as the kindly old doctor, though I never really got a good sense of menace from him. 3/5
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Oct 2, 2020 19:44
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Darthemed posted:Well, the first one is. Second and third are pretty inconsequential. That's what I gather too. It's odd because the director stayed on and did the other two Xtros, but I heard they are loosely connected to the original and a bit bland . I have not confirmed the video quality but Xtro 2 seems to be on Youtube; the third is on Prime. In case there are any brave volunteers... Here is the director talking frankly about his Xtro series. It's very funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovp-z9O56IE&t=653s
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Oct 2, 2020 19:46
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3. Terrified - One of those things I've skipped past on Shudder a hundred times because I don't really go for ghost movies, but I needed something in the 90 minute range before bed last night and it's from Argentina so I gave it a shot. Pleasantly surprised! The ghost action starts at an 8 or so and only briefly dials back a little. Someone involved in the production was definitely a fan of Event Horizon and Silent Hill 4. You could even make a case that it's not really a ghost movie but too much of the structure is shared to ignore, and its greatest weakness is the omnipresent problem of the subgenre's modern incarnation: once you establish that there's an invisible murder wizard in play, why am I as an audience member supposed to be concerned with the physical location of the tall naked guy? If you can get past that and its lack of interest in making sense to a viewer (which I consider a plus), it gets a strong recommendation.
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Oct 2, 2020 20:06
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 #29) Venus in Furs (1969) Hey, my first Franco of the month. Starts off with a troubled musician discovering a beautiful woman's corpse on the beach, and proceeds from there into her return from the dead to exact revenge against the bourgeoisie bastards who killed her. Loaded with strongly artsy lines (e.g., “How can you run from a dead person, unless you're dead yourself?”) and shots/scenes which seem to be there purely to indulge in the spectacle (I mentioned it was a Franco film, right?). Hits a nice dreamlike vibe, with touches of Vertigo-like fascination with past lives. Jazz clubs in Rio, a blonde driving men mad with lust, and a few other things uncommon for horror films are pulled together in a fairly free-flowing narrative, occasionally getting snagged on a visual study for a few minutes at a time. Things take on a decidedly Gothic air as more of the story's pieces are revealed, and the repeated cross-cuts to the woman's corpse during sexual scenes keeps the dramatic element from being overwhelmed by lustiness. Rating: 7/10Watched on Tubi.
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Oct 2, 2020 20:15
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 9. Nadja (1994) "I don't believe that young people 'Don't know anything'. I think they know just about everything. But they can't defend themselves against what they know." I went in hoping to love Nadja. It has sad gay vampires, some beautiful cinematography, and it's steeped in '90s anachronisms like deep personal conversations shot in black and white, while the characters smoke and indie music plays in the background. It's also a "David Lynch presents", and has him acting in a small role. This whole film seems made for me, so why didn't I love it? The plot follows Nadja, the daughter of Dracula, in the immediate aftermath of his death at the hands of Van Helsing. Nadja is a bit of a trust-fund baby, and felt estranged from her emotionally absent father, and decides to rebuild emotional connections with the outside world, first through a lover, Lucy, and then her sick and ailing brother. Lucy lives in denial of her own sexuality and has married a man she knows she cannot love. Nadja offers to her a brief moment of freedom within her loving embrace before the curse of her blood turns Lucy into a mindless shambling shell. When Lucy breaks free of Nadja's hold, she becomes vengeful and represses her sexuality further, offering to have children with her husband to cement the bond. Perhaps if this were played as more of a tragedy I could get behind the intention, but the film is fraught with tonal issues which make it feel perhaps sympathetic to being in the closet. First, the plot of the film is loosely based on the Bram Stoker source material, which should probably make the film more accessible, but it's actually the opposite. The source material and the filmmaker's new additions fight with each other for dominance, and the result is a disjointed dream logic that's more confusing than entertaining. "She talks to me in my mind. It's like receiving a psychic fax." Second, there's an odd, awkward sense of humour running throughout the script which undermines a lot of the tension. It's also not funny enough to work as a comedy. Perhaps it's the ironic detachment nonsense which was popular at the time, but the writer seems terrified of being sincere, which is not a position you necessarily want to place yourself in when writing romantic characters. Third, there are a lot of questionable directing choices throughout the film. This doesn't hold for the whole film, as there are some incredible shots throughout the movie. However, the director favours using heavy pixilation during emotionally tense scenes, which at the time may have been novel, but now just makes the film look like a poorly loaded gif. The film uses the effect artlessly, and far too much for it to have any impact. Ultimately I'm just very disappointed, but I'm glad that it exists. 3/5 Total: 9 Queer Interest: 5 Fran Challenges: 1 Horror Noire Countries Visited: 7 USA, Hungary, Portugal, Vietnam, Georgia, Switzerland, Nigeria
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Oct 2, 2020 20:25
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 Fran Challenge #1: Horror Noire 6. Sugar Hill (1974) Amazon When her boyfriend is killed by the mob, Diana "Sugar" Hill turns to the supernatural to get revenge on his murderers. She enlists the help of Baron Samedi, the voodoo spirit of the dead, and together with his army of zombies they kill the criminals one by one. This is a blaxploitation film that sometimes leans more towards action than horror, but it balances the elements well and has some decent scares and creepy moments. I enjoyed the hell out of this. Like many films of this type from the '70s, it has a great soundtrack and an especially rad theme song called "Supernatural Voodoo Woman" by The Originals (which sadly I can't find on Spotify to add to my Halloween playlist). Marki Bey is great in the lead role, and I'm surprised that she wasn't in more films. Don Pedro Colley as Baron Samedi is wonderful too, ordering his zombies to attack racist old white men with glee. The zombies themselves look fantastic, all covered in cobwebs and soil and with shiny silvery eyes.  This is definitely one of the best films of this type that I've seen, which I suppose isn't saying much as my exposure to blaxploitation horror is very limited. Still, it's a blast and I definitely recommend checking it out. 4.5 supernatural voodoo women out of 5 Total: 6 Watched: Peeping Tom | Cry of the Banshee | The Loved Ones | The Tenant | Get Duked! | Sugar Hill Fran Challenges: 1 SIDE QUESTS: Edgar Wright's Top 100 Horror: 88/100 Slant Top 100 Horror: 88/100 TSZDT Top 100: 97/100
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Oct 2, 2020 20:36
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I think I'll be trying to actually watch a full 31 this year since I have an abundance of free time. I have a list but that's subject to chance so I'll just post reviews as I watch. Probably going to be using Shudder for most. 1. Re-Animator  I've wanted to watch this for ages. I absolutely loved the effects throughout, and while the story wasn't something to write about too much, it kept the film moving. I appreciated that they didn't bother trying to explain the serum at all. Jeffrey Combs was fantastic as Herbert West and the whole plot of a body working without the head for reasons was great. The last ~10-15 minutes goes batshit and I love the chaos and how West never loses sight of what is most important - bringing anything and everything back to life in the name of "progress". 8.5/10 because it was a lot of fun. I'm currently watching the sequel and went ahead and added From Beyond to my list because I can't get over how much I love the effects and cinematography. Mr E fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 20:44
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 They used to show it on COMET all the time a few years back, your post has made me disappointed that there isn't a blu-ray of Sugar Hill, hopefully Vinegar Syndrome or Shout Factory will get on that.
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Oct 2, 2020 20:50
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:That's what I gather too. It's odd because the director stayed on and did the other two Xtros, but I heard they are loosely connected to the original and a bit bland . I have not confirmed the video quality but Xtro 2 seems to be on Youtube; the third is on Prime. In case there are any brave volunteers... This is great. Want more film docs this honest. e: Also Xtro rules. It's a perfect intersection of stuffy British horror with goopey American shlock. feedmyleg fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 20:56
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#10: 1939 Son of Frankenstein The sets of Castle Frankenstein are weird. The walls are all at strange angles, the entry way is dominated by a massively oversized but very crudely made wooden staircase, the dining room is dominated by two massive boar-headed hearths that arc away from the wall and loom over the diners. It seems like the intended effect is a kind of theatricality and disorientation that would fit a followup to the slightly delirious Bride of Frankenstein. But Son of Frankenstein isn't theatrical, disorienting, or delirious. Its actually the most staid and normal of the first three Frankensteins. So I'm left wondering what the idea with the weird sets was. The attention grabbing performance is obviously Bela Lugosi as Igor, and he's great. But I also really liked Basil Rathbone as Wolf Frankenstein. He's not the man his father was and he knows it. When the law starts snooping around he just falls apart, he can't even tell a convincing lie. When the inspector says that Wolf is an eviler man than his father, it's true. Hank Frankenstein committed his unspeakable acts because he wanted to be god! Wolf does it because he wants to clear his father's name and he's intimidated by a hunchback. He's a smaller, pettier Frankenstein. As for the monster, it's not great. Karloff has a lot less time to express the monster's personality, making it dumb again is a step back, and the fur vest looks like poo poo. And even though there are a lot of references in dialogue to the monster being big, I guess they forgot the big shoes this time. The monster is shorter than Frankenstein. Overall I'd say its a solid movie, but definitely a step down from Bride. Worth watching, but not amazing. 10 Movies Watched: Dracula, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, King Kong, Son of Kong, The Bride of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London, Dracula's Daughter, Son of Frankenstein Gripweed fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Oct 3, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 21:04
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#14) Over Your Dead Body (2014) This is a tough one. I had to rate it based on what *I* thought about it, not how good it objectively was. Objectively, it's a FANTASTIC movie. This is Takashi Miike at his most subdued and focused. But unfortunately, it didn't quite connect with me. It's gorgeous, and the ideas are expressed very well, but it just didn't hit me. I dunno. It may be something I have to watch again later to get a fresh take on. 3 / 5 Total: 14 1. Don't Look Under the Bed (1999) / 2. Mom and Dad (2017) / 3. Daughters of Darkness (1971) / 4. Snuff (1975) / 5. Southbound (2015) / 6. The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974) / 7. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) / 8. Last House on the Left (1972) / 9. The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) / 10. Poltergeist (1982) / 11. Dead of Night (1974) / 12. The Shining (1980) / 13. Ganja & Hess (1973) / 14. Over Your Dead Body (2014) Fran Challenges Done: 1
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Oct 2, 2020 21:13
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8. Vampires vs The Bronx (2020) Not bad, not great. Oz has a pretty good eye for shots, and there's some neat flourishes throughout the movie, like the scene where Method Man welcomes the kid's back to church and a street light flicks on behind him as he does. The script works, but there's something missing. I can't quite put a finger on it, maybe there's not enough humor or not enough tension. Trying to walk that fine line, yet not quite gelling into a better movie. Good concept that isn't subtle it's opinion on gentrification. Worth a watch. 2.5/5 MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Oct 2, 2020 |
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Oct 2, 2020 21:15
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