|
Entry #4: Fran Challenge #2 Being a huge fan of Ari Aster's two full features, I decided to watch the short films he has released. Note: the run times are rounded up just in case if anyone else uses these. I will use this as a headline: Retro Futurist posted:So right off the bat, what in the goddamn gently caress is wrong with Ari Aster? The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (Ari Aster, 2011): 29 min. https://vimeo.com/155016328 Well, I watched this and immediately wondered about Aster's childhood, because it's not only an insanely uncomfortable short, it feels very realistic. I did read that they were looking to explore something so taboo it wouldn't even be brought up as a possibility and they definitely nailed that with this plot. I think in both Hereditary and Midsommar Aster displays a very strong ability to portray family interactions, good or bad, and you can see the foundations of that here. Moves along very well and gets a lot done in just under half an hour, the acting is very good, and it's a movie that certainly doesn't make you feel uplifted but you have to know what happens and can't look away. TDF Really Works (Ari Aster, 2011): 3 min. https://vimeo.com/20674275 About a minute in I thought this wasn't going to qualify as horror. I suppose it's arguable that it doesn't, but I think the male population will certainly feel elements of horror present. I didn't find this that great, it's a weird absurdist parody of commercials and unnecessary products and wasn't what I expected. Definitely weird to say of a short running at just under three minutes, but I think it would have been funnier if it were just a little more trimmed and imitated real life a little more (as much as that would be possible here.) Beau (Ari Aster, 2011): 6 min. https://vimeo.com/23026704 This is such a good example of a horror short immediately pulling the audience in with a very simple, and scary situation. It makes you immediately wonder how you'd react, but with such a short runtime it's hard to perform that mental exercise. Billy Mayo from The Strange Thing About the Johnsons returns and is again very good. The ending wasn't quite what I expected, and I wasn't extremely fond of it, but this is a very good example of a horror short done well. Munchausen (Ari Aster, 2013): 16 min. https://vimeo.com/156131637 A silent movie that tells a long story in a short amount of time in some well edited montages. It's another example of making me wonder about how Aster is able to tell such horrifying stories about family and making them so convincing. The transition in this movie from happy and optimistic to what it becomes is sharp and harsh, and although the actors have no spoken dialogue, they all play their chracters perfectly and evoke a lot of implied thoughts and emotions. Basically (Ari Aster, 2013): 15 min. https://vimeo.com/87531562 Pretty much the opposite of Munchausen, this movie is essentially a monologue by a character with the background changing and occasionally her interacting with other silent people. It's definitely interesting and engaging despite the simplicity, and I think the final line ties a lot together. This one doesn't count as horror, and being in the mindset of watching Aster shorts, I was waiting for something horrifying to quickly happen but am not super disappointed that didn't happen. The Turtle's Head (Ari Aster, 2014): 11 min. https://vimeo.com/155028677 Richard Riehle returns from Munchausen in this imitation of a classic detective noir story, but shot in color and set in modern times. This one definitely is more of a comedy short (I suppose you could argue it's body horror...), but it is interesting and funny enough to warrant a watch. C’est La Vie (Ari Aster, 2016): 8 min. https://vimeo.com/71784969 This one is very similar to Basically, but is a monologue by a homeless man. I'm not sure if it's the particular upload, but there is a bit of audio buzz that was distracting me. That being said, it's still both smart and funny, and I'd say is worth checking out. If I hadn't also have seen Basically, I'd have been unable to guess this was an Aster short. But, since I'd say some of these don't really count as horror, I'll climb over 60 minutes of horror short films with: Lights Out (David F. Sandberg, 2013): 3 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQhNGEu2KA I've seen this one before a few times and it's pretty amazing. This might have been one of the first horror shorts that ever really, really scared me and I couldn't believe such a thing was possible in such a short amount of time. Everyone should watch this one, it's only three minutes and very much worth the time. I Heard it Too (Matt Sears, 2004): 7 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxRIWBoluzs This is a nice buildup in terms of the calm beginning to the extreme tension and conclusion. As with Lights Out, I just find it so impressive these movies can bring you into feeling so uncomfortable so quickly. This isn't one of the greatest short films I've seen, but it's still impressive and worth a watch. Don't Look Away (Christopher Cox, 2017): 8 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f3hG-5grlw This has a creepy and neat premise, but I thought it was a little weird that the characters buy into the story so quickly. I suppose that's kinda necessary given the runtime, but it didn't quite induce the same panic and fear that other similar shorts so effectively did. The ending is also a little different in tone than other similar shorts. It's interesting and fairly tense, has some cool effects. The Jigsaw (Basil Al-Safar and Rashad Al-Safar, 2017): 8 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs5zQBBOXrA This is a short that has the feel of being a showcase of ability to make a full feature movie and also has a few creative shots. The structure of the movie is impressive and the pace is great. It wasn't quite as shocking or as tense as I thought it could have been, and the acting was a little awkward and maybe overdramatic, but I suppose that happens when you have to cast for these types of productions. Orchestrated Mess fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Oct 7, 2020 |
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 00:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:24 |
|
|
Okay, I have completed  Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts This challenge rules and I absolutely loved it. I alternated between 5-20 min shorts and <5 min shorts, nothing over 20 mins. All of these are first time watches for me except Bedfellows. In total I watched a little over 1h20's worth of shorts. I'm using spoiler tags throughout as I assume there will be overlap in what people watch and considering the length of these it would be tough to say much without spoiling. Hover at your own risk. Short 1: El Gigante (2014) IMDB Letterboxd 13:41 runtime, watched on Shudder A man tries to cross the border from Mexico to the USA, but gets captured. He wakes up with a luchador mask sewn to his head and is forced to fight El Gigante, an enormous man in a luchador mask, while Gigante's family members (classic horror staples like mystical old blind woman, feral growling child, etc.) cheer him on. Gigante beats the poo poo out of him and kills him. The family sell him as meat at a roadside stand during the end credits. This was a perfectly cromulent short, there is some gore, the sound is excellent (all the crunching during the 'match' was gross). I should add that this Canadian short is entirely in Spanish, in case you don't like reading subtitles. Short 2: Local 58 TV Weather Service (2017) IMDB 2:33 runtime, watched on YouTube Why, this isn't a horror short, it's just a local news station providing an important bulletin for the community! (I loved this. I've since read that it is part of a series so I'll have to go back and check out more of these.) Short 3: Catcalls (2017) IMDB Letterboxd 8:19 runtime, watched on Shudder In this Irish short, a man asks for directions from a couple of women walking down the road, so that he can show them his penis, because he's a piece of poo poo. He goes home to his wife, but he was followed! Comeuppance ensues. The design of the creature is simple but effective and I liked the fun, Thriller-esque ending. Short 4: Tuck Me In (2014) IMDB Letterboxd 1:00 runtime, watched on YouTube It's literally a minute, so I don't want to say much. Amazed at their restraint. Short 5: Autumn Harvest (2014) IMDB Letterboxd 17:04 runtime, watched on Vimeo This black and white short from Norway fuckin slaaaps. Very little dialog and doesn't tell you much along the way, just violence and the sea. If my review didn't spoil the word Lovecraft you might be able to guess where we're headed, but this one really lets the tension build until it pops off in the last couple of minutes. Probably my favorite on the list. Short 6: Under the Stairs (2017) IMDB 3:06 runtime, watched on YouTube When I think of "short horror movie on YouTube" this is the kind of thing that comes to mind. Simple premise, quiet set-up, and then bam, loud sound and jumpscare. Not really my thing, feels kinda cheap, but I will say that as a kid we had stairs in our basement with gaps between the steps and holy god did I ever assume this was going to happen to me any time I had to go down there at night. Short 7: The Ten Steps (2004) IMDB Letterboxd 10:04 runtime, watched on YouTube Another Irish short. A family has recently moved into a new home and their daughter Katie (who has been told the house is haunted by the devil) has been left to babysit her younger brother Steven while their parents are at a business dinner. The power goes out, and Katie's father tries to guide her to the fuse box over the phone - she just has to make it down the ten steps to the cellar. This builds tension really well and I liked that it wasn't overly reliant on jumpscares, worth a watch for sure. Short 8: Bedfellows (2008) IMDB Letterboxd 2:46 runtime, watched on YouTube I think this is the first 'short horror movie on YouTube' I ever watched, and while it really is just a three minute build to a dumb jumpscare, the look on the creature's face before it pounces always stuck with me, it looks like someone who is super excited about something and trying to contain themselves. Honestly this would be better if they cut the jumpscare at the end and just ended it with the woman reaching over the blanket but I digress. Fun to revisit this after a long time. Short 9: Don't Look Away (2017) IMDB Letterboxd 8:19 runtime, watched on YouTube I liked the premise of this more than the execution. A girl looks out the window and sees a dude (?) in a damaged suit with a burlap sack on his head and some chains. Her dad, on the phone, says he's on his way and to not look away from the creature. Her brother gets involved, and as you can probably guess, at some point someone looks away. I don't recommend this one, just kind of boring. Short 10: One Last Dive (2013) IMDB Letterboxd 1:08 runtime, watched on YouTube Another 1 minute one so I won't say much but I am amazed at Jason Eisener's ability to build that much dread in so few seconds. Short 11: The Jigsaw (2014) IMDB Letterboxd 8:26 runtime, watched on YouTube A man buys a jigsaw puzzle (in a box with no marking or reference image) from a shopkeeper who says he's sold it multiple times but it always finds its way back to the shop. The man buys it anyway and as he starts putting it together, realizes the puzzle is a picture of him, putting the puzzle together. I won't spoil the ending, but I thought this was a great, tightly written short that is worth watching. Short 12: The Familiar (2019) (Sorry, couldn't find this on IMDB or Letterboxd) 1:00 runtime, watched on YouTube This felt like standard "1 minute horror" stuff. A girl thinks she sees a creepy face, turns on the light, it's her cat. Or is it? Short 13: Oscar's Bell (2018) IMDB Letterboxd 12:15 runtime, watched on YouTube This is another great one. A man named Duncan goes camping with his son and his dog, Oscar. The dog keeps hearing something in the woods while the Duncan gets increasingly nervous. Really unsettling use of long shots, and has an amazing "OH gently caress" moment. If you're looking to build a list I would recommend 5, 13, 11, and 4 the most from this list. Thanks, Fran.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 00:25
|
|
|
 20. Mayhem - Dir: Joe Lynch - 2017 Well that was something. Samara and Steven carry this movie on their backs. It's shot well enough and I like that this is a disease that infects people much like covid and that a vaccine isnt ready, much like covid. The gags arent super great in this (maybe just the taking a shot of pepper spray to the mouth and spitting it back in the face of the sprayer), but it snapped along pretty well and like I said, Samara and Steven carry the movie across the finish line and both of them are drat fine actors that I cannot wait to see bigger things from in the future (Stevens upcoming movie Minari looks to be pretty great, non-horror aside). Movie could've been a lot better, but it was fine for what it was. It's a bit of a toss-up between this and Belko. I think I preferred Samara and Steven vs most of the cast of Belko (and the conceit on why an entire office went crazy). Mayhem > Belko > Office Uprising and thus ends my Office Mayhem movie rankings.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 00:26
|
|
|
7. Tragedy Girls (2017) A pair of true-crime enthusiasts hatch a plan to improve their social media presence... with spooky results. Do you ever feel really confused about why a movie isn't better than it is? That's how I felt the whole way through Tragedy Girls. It's not a bad movie. It's fun, it's funny, it's a really good idea. The actors do a good job; the titular girls put on an excellent performance. It just feels like it didn't want to do better. It feels flat, like it speaks horror as a second language. Like it just doesn't know what to do to make this idea into a great movie, so it shrugs and says "good enough". 3/5
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 00:39
|
|
|
Mokelumne Trekka posted:I wish the humor prevalent in The Frighteners wasn't so low brow. It's as though the ghosts had to puke and make lewd jokes (or hump a mummy in a museum) in order to entertain 90s audiences - a cynical calculation by the studio. I agree with you about the jokes in The Frighteners getting a little over the top. But just as a heads up, most early Peter Jackson movies, even his independent ones, don't get much classier so I wouldn't chalk that part up to the studio. Heavenly Creatures is more restrained and stylish, but when Jackson was announced for LotR, I was confused and delighted given that he was pretty much known for goofy splatter movies and that one with all the puppet sex. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 00:43
|
|
|
Yeah, Frighteners is very much a gateway film for Jackson. Those not familiar with him pre-LOTR would be shocked to see the stuff he was doing before Frighteners. You want low brow, go watch Bad Taste or Brain Dead.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 00:46
|
|
|
34. Dr. Terrors House of Horror (1965)  This is one of Amicus pictures Anthology series they made about 5 of these anthology films. This one features Christopher Lee , Peter Cushing, and a very young Donald Sutherland. This one contains 5 individual stories with a wrap around featuer Peter Cushing as a tarot reader for some guys on a train and he tells them their fortunes. Overall these are pretty well done, there's five of them so even if your not really into one specific one there's not much waiting around for it to be over. They're all fairly standard " shocking " tales, but the only ones that stand out are Christopher Lee's and Donald Sutherlands. Although there is one where its a killer house plant or some poo poo that is fairly humorous just for the special effects they use. Overall it's a good enough film with some decent stories in it. The only issue I had was Peter Cushing is in the wrap around segment which is a waste of Peter Cushing imo.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 01:34
|
|
|
Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts all shorts from salem horrorfest  This one looked nice, but might be kind of tranphobic? I'm cis so I don't want to speak for anyone, but felt a little iffy to me. There's a woman with a snake dick, and her friend has a flute that controls it. Loved the post apocalyptic neon visuals /5 An old bicyclists goes out for one last ride. This one is certainly less problematic, but also it feels like part of a larger movie. Like this would be the bit before the credits. Pretty solid though. Just really feels like there's a feature in it instead of just a short  a couple has a movie night date with a mysterious copy of night of the living dead. Feel like it could have been more tense in the hands of a different director, or maybe better editing. It's not bad, but kind of average. .5/5 this one was well made, but didn't do a lot for me. A woman gets her fiance the ultimate gift, a chance at revenge against a childhood bully. Goes where you'd expect it to and there's a lot of annoying swearing, which is a weird complaint. Also could have done without the comedic sexism .5/5 This one was a pleasant surprise. Very influenced by Cabinet of caligari visually, and other silents, a mad scientist wants to make a mechanical dancer and pushes his assistant into murder. I liked the look, reminded me of psychonauts, and the story was very Neil Gaiman dark fantasy. Great use of classical music to. Recommend this one .5/5 A couple of metal heads use an aerobics vhs to open the gateway to hell. A little too wacky for my tastes, and while it's one of the shortest, it also feels like part of a larger film, though more like the end this time. .5/5 Gabby is an A+ short film. The titular gabby is a thinly disguised Cathy, and her creator's creative well is running dry until she witnesses a murder. The set up and pay off are fantastic, and it works as a short film. maybe you'll find it less endearing if you didn't read the comics as a kid, but I did, even Cathy, so this one worked for me. /5
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 01:36
|
|
|
#26: Godzilla, King of the Monsters yes technically this came out in 56 so I should've watched Godzilla Raids Again and Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy to stick to my production order pledge but I wanted to watch it back to back with t the original and I made up the rule so I can do as I like, gently caress you I asked in the Kaiju thread first if it was reasonable for me to count this as a separate movie for the purpose of the challenge and they said yes, so it's cool. I knew that they had added footage of Raymond Burr as an American reporter, but I assumed he would mainly be a framing device and narrator. And while he does do a lot of narration, most of it unnecessary, he's way more than that. He's basically the main character. Through movie magic they insert him into the scenes. Reporter Steve Martin not only gets more screen time than any of the Japanese characters, I think he gets more screen time than any of the Japanese characters got in the original version. In the scenes where he's just observing, which luckily is most of them, that works OK. You just have to assume that their is a Japanese tradition to include a "cheap wall" in every room. You know, to build one wall really quickly and cheaply so it looks like part of a cheap movie set and not part of a building like the rest of the walls. That's where Steve Martin stands. But the scenes where he actually talks to the Japanese characters, whoo boy. They handle that by having a stand in who kinda looks like the character from behind stand with their back to the camera. It is not seamless. Aside from the wonkiness of the seams, the fact that the main character, and the audience's viewpoint character, is a foreign reporter puts a lot of distance between the viewer and the events. We are seeing them through an intermediary. And some really great moments don't land as hard because they aren't translated. The other big change they make is they soften the movie a lot for American audiences. The woman who says "I barely made it out of Nagasaki, now I gotta deal with this?" has been cut. The explanation that Serizawa lost his eye in the war has been cut. Most of Serizawa's dialogue has been cut. And his fear that his scientific discovery will be turned into a weapon has been changed into a fear that his weapon will fall into "the wrong hands". Basically the whole thing that Godzilla and the Oxygen Destroyer are part of a chain of trauma has been excised from the movie. Along with any references to the specific traumas the Japanese suffered in WW2. I can understand why people who saw this version first, especially as kids and especially when the original was not available, have a strong attachment to it. There is a lot of great material still in there. But now that the original is if anything more widely available, it doesn't hold much value to the new viewer. Godzilla, King of the Monsters is now just a historical novelty, and an example of the power of editing. 26 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, The Mummy's Hand, Son of Ingagi 1, The Wolf Man, The Corpse Vanishes, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Mummy's Tomb, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, Son of Dracula, The Mummy's Ghost, The House of Frankenstein, The Mummy's Curse, The House of Dracula, She-Wolf of London, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Godzilla, Godzilla: King of the Monsters1FC1 Horror Noire
Gripweed fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Oct 7, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 01:38
|
|
|
#24) S&Man (2006) Really cool "documentary", I liked it a lot. It has legitimate interviews with film makers like Fred Vogel and Bill Zebub that give a rare insight into the world of uber-extreme horror, but it also has the unique angle of being somewhat fictional, in portraying a film maker who's making a "S&MAN" series that blurs the line between real and fake. It all blends together so well that it... feels... real. Just like the movies they're talking about, the world is so fully built that it feels factual. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in this weird world. 3.5 / 5 Total: 24 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) / 15. Phantasm (1979) / 16. Idle Hands (1999) / 17. Hocus Pocus (1993) / 18. The Amityville Horror (1979) / 19. Ghoulies II (1987) / 20. WNUF Halloween Special (2013) / 21. Verotika (2019) / 22. Scare Me (2020) / 23. August Underground's Penance (2007) / 24. S&Man (2006) Fran Challenges Done: 1
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 02:19
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts #9 Short Films Total films: 15 Total running time: 61 minutes The Devil in a Convent (1899) Georges Méliès 3 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcZeVSbQq14 A tights-wearing, sword-brandishing devil emerges in a convent and begins wreaking havoc. He preaches (presumably sinful poo poo) to the nuns, summons imps and demons from the floor, decorates the convent with satanic sculptures and does battle with the god-fearing priests. It's filled with Méliès' typical cardboard-but-not-cardboard sets, and his usual fun editing trickery. Good stuff. 3/5 The Cavalier’s Dream (1898) Edwin S. Porter 1 minute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLlO_pMSdrs A very short film about a guy being visited by various figures in his dream. Some good, some malevolent, and always shifting from one to another. I bet Porter was inspired by Méliès here, as it's filled with editing tricks, though not done as well. 2/5 The Hallucinated Alchemist (1897) Georges Méliès 2 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcBCh8qxT-w So many little tricks jammed into 2 minutes. This is "look what I can do" Méliès much more than story-telling Méliès, but it's seriously cool. I love the snake puppet, the face spider and the levitating/disappearing ghost. 3.5/5 The Bewitched Inn (1897) Georges Méliès 2 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPvs7nfaFBc Great gags with great physical comedy. The exploding candle got a smile out of me. I bet audiences in 1897 were dying... Eh I was picturing a movie theater full of people laughing, but on second thought I guess they would have been looking down into the little kinetoscope thing. I guess it's hard to picture someone staring into one of those and laughing uproariously, but I guess that's how it went. 3.5/5 The Treasures of Satan (1902) Georges Méliès 3 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQam0qQVtCM This one feels so much like a literal magic trick. They even tilt the box towards the audience to confirm it's empty before the shenanigans begins. Boy, you do NOT want to gently caress with Satan's box of treasures. 3/5 The Vanishing Lady (1896) Georges Méliès 1 minute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQQM9wMuR0o It's a single magic trick staged for the camera and performed by Méliès himself. I love it. It also showcases his inclination towards the macabre with the woman turning into a skeleton. As primitive as the editing tricks seem to us now, you have to acknowledge the skill involved in pulling them off so seamlessly. 3/5 A Terrible Night (1896) Georges Méliès 1 minute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJDDTjTSjY A man lies down to sleep, then a giant beetle crawls up the side of his bed, over his body and onto the wall. This fucker is a good 12 inches long. Yes, I'd call that a terrible night. Who knew chamber pots were also good for discarding giant dead bugs? 3/5 Bluebeard (1901) Georges Méliès 10 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg_nWW-TgFg Unlike some of the early short silent "horror" films, this one isn't going for laughs but rather true horror. It's straight faced and pretty drat morbid. It tells a pretty awesome story in only 10 minutes. The wealthy Bluebeard takes a (reluctant) wife. He forbids her from entering one particular room. When he leaves, the devil jumps out of a book and tempts her to enter the room. She does, and what she finds there is exceedingly grisly for an early silent. The sets are spectacular and the editing effects are of the typical Méliès quality. I enjoyed this a lot. I would love to see it with a great soundtrack. 4/5 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912) Lucius Henderson 12 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S5yYYzDwUA With such a short running time, it feels more like a brief summary of the novel than an actual adaptation of it. It's shot and edited nicely, but I sure wish the story had more room to breathe. 2.5/5 Tuck Me In (2014) Ignacio F. Rodó 1 minute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNQIdEv-Emo I admit I was waiting for a jump scare at the very end. I bet most people were. But it's actually just a simple concept that lets your imagination do most of the work. I admire that. 3/5 Under the Stairs (2017) Alex Goyette 3 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOTYuIaYO7U Meh. Didn't do much for me. Films this short are ALL about the ending, and this one's is pretty lame. The camera work could have been better too. 2/5 Bedfellows (2008) Drew Daywalt 2 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvGmMVBYMw The money shot is spine tingly, but then the movie lasts about 15 seconds longer than it ought to and kinda ruins the vibe. 2.5/5 Catcalls (2017) Kate Dolan 8 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jytFeNxsdo Nicely shot, good story, nice tension, a great creature and a satisfying but unpredictable ending. Very solid! I'd watch a feature length version of this. 3.5/5 The Whistler (2013) Bryce McGuire 7 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP3J7Tu1oi0 Pretty neat. It's unpredictable and fairly creepy. And the acting is very good for a short film. The ending left me scratching my head, but I kinda like that. 3/5 Creaker (2019) Vidar Tevasvold Aune 4 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGe-WW76Qvw There's so much wrong with the ending that it almost ruins it. It just... makes no sense. I get that the filmmaker wanted a sad, shocking twist, but they did so at the expense of all logic. 2/5
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 02:27
|
|
|
 Color out of Space, 2019 Now this was an awesome movie. Based on the classic H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name, it really fit some of the things I pictured in my head when I listened to the audio book version some years ago. The only difference it takes place in modern times. The story is pretty straight forward, what looks like an meteor falls from the sky near a small family run farm, meteorite got a strange glow, plant and animal life starts to get weird, not to mention the people as time goes on. It is an Lovecraft story, so poo poo gets real weird and creepy as the very fabrics of reality breaks down around the characters. It was made the same people who made Mandy, so you know they'll go crazy with glowing colors and trippy poo poo, which is perfect for this story. And unlike Mandy, this is more of a proper movie with plot and characters than feeling like a really long synthwave music video. So even if you didn't like Mandy, you should give this a go. And just like that movie, Nicolas Cage is back. Most of the negative reviews felt the need to bitch about him overacting or crap like that. But not sure how you can even overact to the events in the movie. Either way, I strongly recommend Color out of Space. It is up there with the best of horror movies from the last few years.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 02:27
|
|
|
9. Waxwork Watched On: Amazon Prime I was hoping this was going to be a classic “80s teens getting murdered” movie like Night of the Demons, but it felt a lot more incoherent than its $3.5 million budget. The script is just all over the place: the lead is entirely unlikable, half of the characters don’t seem to have any motivation behind their actions and the evil scheme doesn’t make any loving sense. There are a lot of fun parts, but they’re mired in a soupy whole. Also the Marquis de Sade is a pirate for some reason?
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 02:32
|
|
|
Gripweed posted:#25: 1954 Godzilla
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 02:43
|
|
|
 8. Destroy All Monsters (1968) Lots of good monster fighting in this. Even Anguirus gets some good moments! Big G is cool as always. Loses a star for a weak human plot and for making me gaze upon Minilla’s foul visage. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 02:58
|
|
|
 (25) Lake Placid (1999) Dir. Steve Miner After a diver gets torn in half in a lake, a team goes in to investigate what happened. Turns out it’s a giant crocodile. Once the team confirms its existence, they decide to sit back and wait for the feds to come to kill it. Until a rich man obsessed with crocodiles shows up and convinces them to catch it alive. Also features Betty White as a woman who lives on the lake, feeding the croc her cows. A nice movie with a good cast.  (26) Deep Blue Sea (1999) Dir. Renny Harlin A team of scientists who are doing research on shark brains in international waters purely for cost reasons and not because they made hyper intelligent sharks runs into an issue when a tropic storm arrives. The hyper intelligent sharks use the storm to take down a helicopter, break the station windows, destroy the radio and invade the research station. It's a lot like a slasher but with sharks. Also Samuel L Jackson is in it with one of the best deaths ever, I’m sure everyone has seen it. It’s such an insane movie with a cast that is playing it how it deserves. Totals: (1) Tombs of the Blind Dead (Spanish) (1972) (2) Child’s Play 3 (1991) (3) The City of the Dead (1960) (4) Count Dracula’s Great Love (Spanish) (1973) (5) The Phantom Carriage (Swedish/Silent) (1921) (6) Dracula 2000 (2000) (7) BloodRayne: Deliverance (2007) (8) Slugs (1988) (9) Red Riding Hood (2011) (10) Thir13en Ghosts (2001) (11) Frankenweenie (2012) (12) Blacula (1972) (13) BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2010) (14) Night of the Demons (1988) (15) City of the Living Dead (1980) (17) Ticks (1993) (18) The Pit and The Pendulum (1961) (19) The Nest (1988) (20) Zombeavers (2014) (21) Human Lanterns (1982) (22) The Phantom of the Opera (1962) (23) Tower of Evil (1972) (24) To the Devil a Daughter (1976) (25) Lake Placid (1999) (26) Deep Blue Sea (1999) Death: 1, Demons: 2, Ghosts: 1, Man: 3, Monsters: 6, Serial Killers: 3, Vampires: 5, Werewolves: 1, Witches: 1, Zombies: 3
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 03:02
|
|
|
9. Satan's Slaves - This is an extremely stupid movie. To calibrate you: the entire story is explained by some guy who writes for an occult magazine, but he doesn't actually tell anyone anything. He just hands them a copy of the magazine to read whenever they feel like learning what's going on. This happens twice, it's even stupider the second time when he's all "if we wait for publication it will be too late, have a preprint copy to take with you", and the second article is "so I got everything wrong last time, here's what's actually happening." The setting is consistently pretty and it keeps going for like 15-20 minutes after the stupid twist ending, which is novel. Also there's a little deaf kid who is constantly giving his older brother poo poo, and is better than 99% of movie kids.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 03:08
|
|
|
Irony.or.Death posted:9. Satan's Slaves - This is an extremely stupid movie. To calibrate you: the entire story is explained by some guy who writes for an occult magazine, but he doesn't actually tell anyone anything. He just hands them a copy of the magazine to read whenever they feel like learning what's going on. This happens twice, it's even stupider the second time when he's all "if we wait for publication it will be too late, have a preprint copy to take with you", and the second article is "so I got everything wrong last time, here's what's actually happening." The setting is consistently pretty and it keeps going for like 15-20 minutes after the stupid twist ending, which is novel. Also there's a little deaf kid who is constantly giving his older brother poo poo, and is better than 99% of movie kids. I agree with this review, and all the stupid poo poo rules.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 03:11
|
|
|
21. Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts (Total runtime: 92 minutes) Little Gay Boy, Christ is Dead (2012) https://vimeo.com/ondemand/boysonfilmx/ A young Parisian gay man, Jean Christophe, is haunted during his day by constant homophobic and sexual attacks. Whilst commuting he is slapped by a stranger. At work as a cleaner his boss dunks his head into a toilet, forces him to lick the seat, and then pisses on him. He has a few photos taken for a modeling agency, but the photographer is a creep who slowly convinces him to undress. He comes home to see his mother, who sexually assaults him. He bumps into a trans woman in the street, and within milliseconds he is bound and gagged in fetish gear. And so on. And so on. And so on. All punctuated by quick scenes of balletic performances of self-harm, bloodletting, fisting, suspension bondage etcetera. Eventually Jean finds refuge in a local gay bar, and is renewed by the pleasures and ecstasies within, ready to be born again and fight another day. As a piece of anxiety-fueled film making, this succeeds quite ably. I wouldn't say it was shocking despite the above content, it's more fun than anything else, but the performance of Gaëtan Vettier as Jean more than sells the uncomfortable quality of the scenes. None of the cinematography will surprise anyone, it's quite workmanlike. Overall though it's intriguing enough for me to soft-recommend. 3.5/5  Innocent Boy (2020) https://vimeo.com/ondemand/innocentboygayfilm/ Innocent Boy follows a grimy crack house brothel, ran by a drag queen with a deep baritone voice. A bloodsoaked cowboy appears, setting off a chain of events which, well, aren't very well explained at all, but occur with tremendous vigor.  Two things are true about Innocent Boy. First, it's an incoherent amateurish mess. Second, it's beautifully lit, well shot, compelling, nightmarish, and utterly charming. I feel myself saying "I can't wait to see what the director does next, if anyone gives them a second chance", which is a bizarre position to find yourself in as a viewer. I'm hoping that whatever technical issues haunted this production are solved before the next eagerly awaited installment. 3.5/5  Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please? (1999) https://youtu.be/YhG9YVJ_RUw Porno's Carey Grant, Jeff Stryker, checks into a Hollywood hotel and inspires the staff and residents into a hallucinogenic craze of sexual lust. A lot of the runtime is devoted to these fantasies, which include Jeff playing the part of F.W. Murnau as he fellates his chauffeur into a traffic accident. The residents then hypnotize Jeff, and in a cannibalistic Christmas orgy consume him, to the delight of all. God bless us, everyone. I have no idea why this exists, but it was a ton of fun. Jeff really throws himself into each scenario with an adorable, effortless charm. The side cast are camp, appropriately crazed, and represent a bewilderingly vast cross-section of society. Definitely worth a watch. 4/5  "Why are we still here when so many are gone?" Buffalo Death Mask (2013) https://vimeo.com/146904572 Buffalo Death Mask is a haunting, experimental, autobiographical art film documenting a conversation between two gay men regarding their experiences with HIV and AIDs, and the many complications that entails. Their experiences with vast numbers of medication regimes, the physical characteristics of the illness, the loss of friends and loved ones, and the inevitable emotional tole of it all, but also humour and the important role that plays. The film is perhaps a little slow to start, but stick with it, it's absolutely heartbreaking, life-affirming, and darkly beautiful. Definitely check it out. 4.5/5 I was going to do a few more, but I think that's a good place to leave it. Total: 21 Queer Interest: 11 Fran Challenges: 2 Horror Noire, Short Cuts Scream Stream: 4 Countries Visited: 14 USA, Hungary, Portugal, Vietnam, Georgia, Switzerland, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Germany, Finland, France, Spain, Japan Debbie Does Dagon fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Oct 7, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 03:20
|
|
|
 8. Daniel Isn't Real I had previously seen this at a festival last year, and I wanted to see if I’d still like it as much on a smaller screen. The premise isn’t particularly novel. It’s about a little boy named Luke who finds himself with an imaginary friend, the titular Daniel, after witnessing a traumatic event. At first, Daniel is a boon to his life, but like any other unhealthy coping mechanism, things soon go awry. After Daniel shows himself to be dangerous, Luke is forced to lock him away. Years go by and Luke is in college. The stresses of academia prove to be too much for him and, thanks to some terrible advice from his therapist (very relatable), Daniel is brought back into his life. Much like the previous film I watched (An American Werewolf in London), there seems to be a central theme of needing to fight the destructive monster within them that threatens to hurt the ones they love the most. Notably, both protagonists ultimately win by losing their battle. The reviews for this aren’t great, but I really liked it. I’m a sucker for neon lighting, and I liked the idea of a black manic pixie dream girl for a change. There’s some good body horror in there too. The acting is a little rough in parts, but Miles Robbins (son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon) is absolutely delicious in this. It's strange, but there's a scene where he's smoking a cigarette with a relish and delight so palpable that I've been holding that image with me ever since. But I think I'm also horny for his little sleepy-eyed smirky chipmunk face in general.  9. As the Gods Will/Kami-sama no Iu Tōri Takashi Miike is probably the director that has the most entries in my list of top favourite movies. But he is probably also the director of the most movies, period. Say what you want about him, but the man is prolific. I was a huge fan of his work and Japanese cinema in general in the early oughts, but I stopped following his new releases. This pandemic has somehow led to a revival of my passion for film, but I’ve discovered that Japanese horror movies seem to have gone into a new direction that I’m not sure I want to follow (it’s no surprise that South Korea seems to have picked up the mantle as leaders in horror). And if this film is any indication, I may no longer recognize Miike either. It’s nice to see they’re giving him a bigger budget, but I also kind of like how he always found interesting ways to counter his budget constraints. I think the only thing that really felt like him to me was how he shot the scene with the woman being torn in two. He’s very good at filming the implication of extreme violence in a way that tricks your brain into thinking you’ve seen way more than you actually did, to the point that you sometimes develop false memories of it (I’ve had such arguments with my partner about the nipple-cutting scene in Ichi). Overall, it kind of felt like a less interesting, more shallow take on Battle Royale. It was also very “anime.” While I’m not a staunch anime hater, I don’t tend to like those set in high school (unless they’re completely bonkers, like Kakegurui), and live-action adaptations of anime are almost always unbearable to me. It was well shot and had a few interesting scenes, but I couldn’t get into it. The absurdist in me felt like it might have been redeemed a little if it ended with them getting popsicles for all their troubles, but then the movie kept going.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 03:28
|
|
|
Ambitious Spider posted:
Oh man. I wish there was a way for me to see this, controversial girldick is my specialty.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 03:52
|
|
|
Mokelumne Trekka posted:Yeah there are quite a few 'basics' I have not seen. Hope to see Suspiria(!) soon too. Happy to share my thoughts. This thread rules. Iron Crowned posted:To be honest, I was curious how you never saw TCM, but I also haven't seen Susperia yet, so it probably works out similarly. Mr E posted:4. Suspiria (1977)  #54) Man's Best Friend (1993) What a cast! Ally Sheedy, Lance Henriksen, Robert Costanzo, and William Sanderson, among others. This is the story of a dog, rescued by Sheedy's character from an animal experimentation institute. That would be great, except the dog is MAX 3000, with the genetic traits of chameleons, cheetahs, bears, and a few others spliced in. And he has corrosive urine. He might also have robotic skeletal reinforcements, and computer chips in his brain. So, honestly, the Beethoven comparison isn't too far off. There's a lot of 'big dog hijinx' filling up the middle of the film, with MAX getting horny for a golden retriever, chomping a mailman, and barking up a storm. There's also a scene with an orange cat being eaten, which I very much did not care for, even though it was an extremely obvious puppet-dog doing it. The amount of simulated animal violence was really at odds with the goofy tone the film often tried to take on, and while it occasionally manages to balance the two, the uncomfortable blending taints the majority. Lance's character does a lot of ultimately useless searching, and while his condescension to the cops is amusing, it comes off as a means to pad a thin script. Admittedly, all the main actors give good performances; the side characters, not so much, especially a pair of dog-catchers who seem to have escaped from C.H.O.M.P.S.. And I called the stinger like forty minutes before it arrived. Eh, could have been worse, but it also failed to have nearly as much fun with the premise as it could have, especially the chameleon powers. Rating: 5/10Watched a VHS rip from Youtube.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 04:28
|
|
|
 The Birds (first time watch, DVD). Ehhhhh it has its moments but overall it's a very long movie with some really creaky scenes where not a lot happens. The first half is actually relatively interesting, establishing the characters and domestic drama, but the very dated bird effects, terrible makeup, continually stupid character decisions just add to a lot of frustration in the second half A few of the shots with the teeming birds just sitting there are quite unsettling, but it doesn't really make up for the stretch and the forced melodrama and sudden ending. It's got some lovely scenes but definitely feels old and corny for the most part with flashes of good. Also goddamn Rod Taylor is all rugged man. 3/5 1. Eyes Without a Face 2. Come and See 3. Cat People 4. Repulsion 5. Sisters
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 04:34
|
|
|
 86) Die Sister Die - 1972/1978 - Dailymotion This was originally filmed in '72, but didn't get released until '78. It's kind of an odd duck in the score's a much better quality than you'd expect for this film, and it feels like a standard mystery thriller you'd see as a TV movie of the week trying to get marketed to the grindhouse crowd. It's a decent film, but if you expect the usual 70s exploitation/grindhouse entry, you'll be dissappointed.  87) A Bell from Hell - 1973 - TubiTV This one's a pretty intense Eurosleaze entry with ample amounts of sadism an incestuous ties. A young man's just come out of a mental institution after having been sent there by his aunt and cousins so they could get their hands on his late mother's estate. Of course, revenge is planned. Mostly noted for the original director dying on set, there are several edits of this film varying the amount of animal cruelty. I strongly advise researching the version you watch if you plan to.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 04:36
|
|
|
9. Season of the Witch (1972) A very odd early Romero film, barely horror but close enough. Most of it is really a suburban drama- a married woman whose husband is always travelling gets bored with her life, is having weird dreams, decides to start dabbling in a few things, like her daughter's boyfriend and also witchcraft, which she finds out about from a mutual friend. It's a long time before we even really get to this part, but for once I didn't mind because Romero's depiction of bland suburban living is so loving sharp. In his Dead movies he always went for broader characters but he can really do the subtler stuff, the scenes are wonderful in their banality and concealed emotions. (Though adults playing Mad Libs as a party game is something I'm surprised to learn was a thing.) The scene with the fake joint is brutal. But eventually she starts getting the occult poo poo together, the song by Donovan starts playing (I'm guessing the licensing, even then, was the film's single biggest expense), and she really takes her conjuration seriously. It's sometimes amateurish (notably the dream sequences) and definitely slow, but ultimately kind of engrossing. I dug it. Also Jan White, who plays the lead (quite well), kinda looks like Rachel Bloom and now I'm thinking of the possibilities of a musical. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 04:46
|
|
|
 7. Vampires vs. The Bronx (2020) dir. Oz Rodriguez This was cute! Despite it's kiddy nature, I did like that it explored a spectrum of whiteness with the Italian American familiar without letting those Whites who might be looked down upon off the hook entirely. I disagree with Hollismason that it doesn't feel like the Bronx. A lot of shots feel very Bronx, but sometimes it feels TOO the Bronx. The movie doesn't have a good sense of geography or a feeling of a neighborhood. They're just nebulously in the Bronx. The film distracts from itself because at certain points you get this nice specificity and sometimes you're just rolling through generic warehouses. The script can feel wonky at times in a very HELLO MY FELLOW KIDS sort of way. And while the young actors are really charismatic, Gerald Jones as Bobby feels like he's operating at a different level. I hope he shows up in more stuff. Overall, high recommend. It's a slow start and predictable. But as a teacher of West Indian nerdy kids who love Stranger Things, I love that this exists. /5 8. The Strangers Prey at Night (2018) dir. Johannes Roberts This was fine, and I'm glad I finally watched it, but it seems a bit hollow. I'm a big mark for home invasion stuff. An ex of an old girlfriend tried to break into her apartment when I was in my twenties, and that shook me up pretty bad for a bit. So, when this wasn't creeping me out, that really was a bad sign. The original Strangers film really is all about mood. It starts late with these characters tired and a bit pissed at each other. It feels very recognizable. The feel of a family staying a night on a road trip could be cool, but it doesn't feel that well-observed. There is a lot of emotional baggage front-loaded with the family at the start, and it was really unnecessary. None of it is that interesting, it doesn't go anywhere, and what I like about the film would still be there with they were a more Funny Games style boring family. The film also doesn't really do much to advance our killers. The Strangers has a pretty striking ending in how it actually follows the killers, but their characters are not really explored or advanced. In many ways, this is what I think many people imagine 80s slasher sequels to be, a sort of generic repackaging of the last film's story with no sense of continuity. The big saving grace is the ending. The film does a good job of not cheating. The Strangers will just straight up kill the heroes as quickly as possible if given the chance. That is set up and followed through in a way that makes the finale jump up in tension by a bit. It's a great final girl sequence, but it can't really elevate the rest of the movie. /5
Timeless Appeal fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Oct 7, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 04:49
|
|
|
 FRAN CHALLENGE #1: Vampires vs. The Bronx (2020) Kids on bikes vs. vampires in a neighborhood in the Bronx, this is a fun romp with plenty of references to other vampire movies. This movie doesn’t reach for the stars, but doesn't quite nail what it was trying for. While the gloves are off and the stakes are high, it may still strike too playful a tone despite dealing with a sticky point - the aggression and damage gentrification can do to a community. It was still a very enjoyable watch. 3 / 5  Relic (2020) Relic tells the story of a mother and daughter dealing with the family matriarch’s slip into dementia. Tonally the first half reminded me a lot of The Taking Of Deborah Logan, but I admit it has been a while since I’ve seen that so it may be projecting onto it. The movie accelerates it’s spooks at a great pace - a little here, a little bit more there, a rising dread until a discovery is made and it turns into the best Silent Hill adaptation I’ve seen. 4 / 5  November (2017) This I watched way back on the 2nd, but forgot to include it here. Why? Because it’s barely horror. But as someone pointed out, it has sooo many elements, from the Devil to witches and more, so it should count. It isn’t scary - what it is is delightful. I had so much fun watching this just to see what further batshittery would take place in this month we spend with an Estonian village. I had passed up watching this because I kept asking myself if I wanted a slow, maudlin Eastern European horror, and was never in the mood for one. It isn’t slow. It isn’t maudlin. Seriously, if you like folk horror or weird low magic and haven’t seen this you are missing out. 4 / 5 1. Edge Of The Axe (1988), 2. Spiral (2019), 3. The Babysitter (2017), 4. The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020), 5. Vampires Vs. The Bronx (2020), 6. Relic (2020), 7. November (2017) Fran Challenges: #1 Horror Noire - Vampires vs. The Bronx
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 04:52
|
|
|
2. We Are Still Here (2015) The best I can say for this is that it went by quickly. The script is just awful and the direction is really, really boring. Incoherent. Really just a lame pastiche.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 05:26
|
|
|
11: The Wailing Finally something good. This has been in my list for about 3 years now, but I never seem to be in the mode for a 2.5 hour movie. Well, we had an early dinner and were in the couch by 630, so what the hell. I’m still not entirely sure what happened but I enjoyed it a lot. For such a long movie it really never drags; things happen at a good enough clip and there’s enough genuine humour to carry it along. Also had one of the cooler exorcisms I’ve ever seen.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 06:01
|
|
|
#9: Viy (1967) Watched this for the first time last year and I was really happy to get to revisit it this year and stream it for some other people who'd never seen it before. It's such an easy movie to recommend. There's nothing objectionable in it, it's not really scary, it's funny, charming, and it's full of really creative and fantastic effects. Not sure it's possible to talk about Viy without mentioning the phenomenal (nearly) final scene. It's just great. That scene alone justifies the entire rest of the movie and I would've loved the film based on that even if everything else was bad. Thankfully that's not the case. While it does slow down a lot in the middle, there's still a ton of charm and sprinklings of neat effects throughout. The sets and locations are all gorgeous, and it's extremely entertaining to look at everyone's hair. Challenges (1/2): Movies Watched: 1. #Alive (2020), 2. Misery (1990), 3. Stay Alive (2006), 4. Blacula (1972), 5. The Wailing (2016), 6. 30 Days of Night (2007), 7. Dead Alive (1992), 8. Diabolique (1955), 9. Viy (1967)
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 06:04
|
|
|
 #55) Slaughter High (1986) Another film where the poster and description made me think I'd seen it before, but it wasn't in my view log, only for a scene with an rear end in a top hat to jog my memory and make me realize I had. This time, the scene was about five minutes in, and it was an entire room of assholes, conducting the most overwrought April Fool's prank of all time. Not content with that, their follow-up prank on the same target leaves his face scarred by a chem lab acid explosion, then we're jumped forward to the ten-year reunion at their shuttered high school. If I told you this was an '80s slasher, could you figure out where we go from there? Well, maybe not. With three writers, who also share directing credits, this movie goes to some weird and incongruously brutal places. There's male FFN in the first quarter-hour, someone gets crucified to a door, someone chugs a beer-can of acid, etc. The school has more booby traps than a Resident Evil mansion, and there's a sense of how obsessively the killer must have worked away on setting them all up. But there's also a hard loss of momentum about an hour in, with the kill fodder (they don't have nearly enough depth to feel like full characters) cluelessly wandering through hallways and running away from slight scares. That's enough to bleed out most of the tension built up by the genuinely mean-spirited kills up to that point, and the movie sputters along from there until the finish bursts out. There's some excellent stuff in here, but an excess of bloat pulls down the film's quality average. “April loving fool, you motherfuckers!” Rating: 6/10Watched on digital copy, also available on Tubi.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 06:11
|
|
|
10. Impetigore "Maybe you were an ugly kid?"  The natural response to a movie as dumb as Satan's Slaves is to immediately watch the director's followup, because it's also on Shudder. To give you the vaguest possible pitch because I like going in blind and maybe you do too (try to skip past the synposis on Shudder if so): a young woman who could really use some cash discovers that her family owned a mansion back in the extremely rural village where she was born. She has no idea what's up because she was raised by a now-deceased aunt and has no memories of her parents, so she and her best friend set off to investigate. It's great! Strong opening scene, cool mystery driving the action, likeable main characters. Tons of small character moments that show you what kind of people they all are. Indonesia has really cool forests. You could knock it a little for a clumsy backstory dump near the end, but if you consider how it happened in Satan's Slaves this is an improvement. And even if you're not feeling that generous, there's something to be said for a ghost just straight up telling you what it wants. My new favorite Indonesian horror movie.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 08:00
|
|
|
8. Occult (rewatch) - Koji Shiraishi directed this a bit after Noroi, and it's very much the same format. Some journalists are filming a documentary following a murder, and one of the victims is experiencing strange effects after being stabbed. He's actually pretty unlikeable, but they start recording him and things slowly start to escalate. This and Noroi stand out to me in the way they just slowly build up steadily, peaking right at the end. The music fits really well here, seems like modular synth noise, and gives a lot of scenes a strong feel of unease. Overall it's a bit weaker than Noroi, but still worth a recommendation for anybody who liked that. 9. Egg (2005) (new) - Ok this was a weird one. A girl sees an egg whenever she closes her eyes. On her birthday one year it hatches, and begins attacking her, and she does what she can to survive and fight back. Really surreal even when the monster isn't involved, her job is some weird abstract debugging that involves furious clicking, and most of the other people she encounters are just a bit off in one way or another. The monster is a high quality rubber costume, and looks fantastic, which is great, since the movie cuts to it quite often.    10. Suspiria 1977 (new) -Extremely visually striking and colorful. A ballet student is accepted to a prestigious boarding school and travels to Germany to attend, but right from the start things seem slightly off with the staff. The movie follows a mystery movie path, and is pretty gripping the whole way. Did not expect the turn it took. The sets were gorgeous, and it made great use of different light between rooms to make for striking nighttime scenes. Soundtrack was great, very in-your-face. Not really sure how much magic the witches even did, it seems like the butler guy did most of the killing aside from the dog.   Fran Challenge 2:Short CutsＬＯＣＡＬ５８ＴＶ - Weather Service (2:33) Just a short little fake PSA, lots of cool effects. POKOPOKOPIKOTAN (4:14) - Starts out cute, with paper art dolls dancing, then begins to shift into an otherworld, where a creater/destroyer human starts destroying things. When it shifts back into the original cute world, evidence of the destruction caused in the otherworld persists. at the end everything is destroyed. Very well put together little video. My house walk-through (12:00) - Very interesting, remiscent of PT. Seems like a spirit is going through an abandoned house where they and their family died, only able to revisit the same few rooms and a hallway that loops indefinitely. Quite good, and a bit sad. I feel fantastic (2:31) - Creepy mannequin singing in an autogenerated voice with weird synth music that doesn't really go anywhere. I wasn't sure if anything was going to happen, but nothing really did, just kinda creepy. Don't look away (8:19) - This was good little monster piece. Pretty creepy monster and just enough to get a taste of it without anything else. Acting was meh in a few spots, but overall solid. Still Life (8:48) - This was also really good guy runs out of gas and the people in town are a bit strange Seems like the pills might have given him some sort of super stimulant effect? The Dollmaker (9:03) - This was another good short that builds a complete story. A couple goes to a dollmaker after losing their son and it turns out his dolls are really something special. It didn't turn out like I was expecting at all. Good stuff. Under the Stairs (3:06) - Just a short spooky scene in an apartment. Not too much to it, but it's effective. Flesh Eating Film Reels (8:06) - Weird old funny short about a man battling stop-motion loose film after being summoned for a job interview. It's kinda goody, and the film makes very funny noises, which effectively give it some personality. The Contraption (7:43) - Old short that mostly features a man building what seems to be a strange piece of furniture for most of it. Honestly kinda felt like one of those super heavily edited youtube tutorials, except all the shots were more dramatic and slow. Kinda expected the ending, but not specifically what it was. Beau (6:22) - Ok, this was rally good and weird. Starts with an common back-of-the-mind fear coming true, then just continues to escalate. The ending has a twist, but I'm not sure what it is. The Jigsaw (8:26) - The production values here are great. While so many other shorts seem like a short piece from a movie, this really goes for the complete cinematic experience, it feels a lot longer than it actually is (in a good way). New: 1. The Lighthouse 2. 1408 3. It Follows 4. Egg 5. Suspiria(1977) Rewatches: 1. The Abominable Dr. Phibes 2. Ichi the Killer 3. The Babadook 4. Under the Skin 5. Occult Lhet fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Oct 7, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 08:46
|
|
|
Hope it's not too late to get in on this, missed the thread going up initially. Goal is 31, with no more than 5 rewatches. Nothing else fancy. #1) In a Stranger's House Very mediocre found footage film. I often give these sorts of titles a bit of leeway as I'm a fan of the subgenre, but this didn't do much for me. This focuses on one individual, and while some of the found footage entries that have either a one or two person focus can pull it off, there's just not enough here to really keep interest. Obviously lower budget, the film never really develops much tension or actual scares until the very end which isn't nearly good enough to save it. Not the best start but hey, gotta start with something. 2 / 5 #2) The Loved Ones It's prom season for some "high school" students, and not everyone's got their first pick. Fortunately for one particular jilted wannabe prom queen, her and her father have a plan to remedy things. This was much more vicious than I expected, and didn't really go in the generic slasher direction I expected. I really enjoyed most of the main plot, and the villains were sufficiently menacing but there's a few side plots and other threads that don't seem to really go anywhere and feel kinda like filler. I can kinda see how the breaks stop it from having to revel too much in Hostel/Saw-like brutality, but they also seem a bit out of place and made it feel a bit disjointed. Still a good watch, but I'm not quite as enthralled as were some in the main horror thread. 3 / 5 BONUS - Megan is Missing Not including this with the others because a) I can't remember exactly what day I saw this (caught it randomly on one of the roku networks) and b) it's a rewatch, and I'd like to save those for other movies and/or just watch new ones. Well, I've somewhat defended this previously in the main thread as being not entirely terrible but I'm not sure if it's due to me having watched a ton more found footage than when I initially saw this or what but man this movie is BAD. And MEAN. And GROSS. And not in good ways. It has the feeling of a church special put on to scare kids from the internet and partying, only if the person creating it also just maybe is a closet pedo. In better hands this could actually be a decent movie as sort of a deconstruction of the often exploitative nature of horror movies, or even something that's hostile to the audience a la Funny Games. But the director seems to enjoy a bit too much the descriptions of the various abuse one of the main characters has suffered, and the tone is just way off. Just kinda bad all around. .5 / 5 Total: 2 1. In a Stranger's House / 2. The Loved Ones
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 09:07
|
|
|
Lhet posted:9. Egg (2005) Is this up for streaming anywhere? It's a hard title to search and I'm not finding it on any of the usual suspects (hulu/amazon/netflix).
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 09:18
|
|
|
 I guess we kinda don’t like Tim Burton now? Admittedly I haven’t seen a ton of his modern stuff and I don’t love him or anything but there’s something very charming and whimsical about Burton to me. A guy who loves horror and loves film making so purely in a rather childlike way. As it so happens this morning I was poking around his filmography, watched one of his shorts, and decided I wanted to watch the rest. How serendipitous. I guess its another Master or Horror and tonight is Tim Burton’s. 17 (19). Tim Burton’s Shorts (1979-1984) All shorts written and directed by Tim Burton. Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts Doctor of Doom (1979) https://letterboxd.com/film/doctor-of-doom-1979/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEPB4wflmZo&t I guess this would be Burton’s first film. Its a really goofy and weird little piece just making a go at the mad scientist/Frankenstein thing with a touch of that German Expressionism influence he has and a lot of really silly B movie Ed Wood inspired stuff. It’s the kind of thing I would have made with my buddies in film school but it also looks a lot better directed and edited than what I did. Its an interesting little watch for a few reasons, I think. One, a young Tim Burton acting a fool as the doctor of doom. Two, if you ever thought Burton was hampered by the studios making him PG/PG-13 don’t be. This should assure us all that Burton has always been weird and whacked out, but he’s also always been really tame and goofy. And finally its notable because the folks he made it with were his fellow young up and comers in ’79. Of note? Chris Buck who would go on to direct Frozen and its sequel and Brad Bird who would go on to win two Oscars and direct The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Incredibles II, Ratatouille and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. That’s a hell of a lot of talent and success in one very silly, stupid little movie. Finally its worth watching if you want to see a table of people eat tacos incorrectly. Vincent (1982) https://letterboxd.com/film/vincent/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQcBKUPm8o&t This is actually my second watch of this today since its the random thing I watched this morning that started this. Its Burton's first professional production Disney and was shown as a lead in to a bunch of different Disney films over the years. Narrated by Vincent Price its really a very cute and well down little piece. It won’t blow anyone away but its all of that Burton stop motion styler, german expressionism and old horror influences, silly PG humor, and the taste of a lot of his future ideas. You can definitely see the blueprint of Frankenweenie or Nightmare Before Christmas in here. And really, while the some of the other Burton shorts might be worth watching out of curiosity this is just a fun little short that would make a great lead in for pretty much any horror showing. And it honestly looks well beyond 1982 to me. Its the first real show of Burton’s brilliance in these pieces. Hansel and Gretel (1983) https://letterboxd.com/film/hansel-and-gretel-1982-1/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy3HRjieYP8&t This aired once on the Disney Channel on Halloween Night ’83 with an introduction from Vincent Price, but everyone involved was apparently unsatisfied and it was never shown again. It was thought lost until 2009 when it started popping up in art exhibits and in 2014 some fan uploaded a VHS recorded copy to Youtube. Its weird. Really, really weird. I mean Hansel and Gretel is a weird story to start with but Burton had some ideas. Instead of “candy” everything appears to be the most unappetizing goop in existence. The witch herself appears to be made of candy. There’s a very creepy singing Gingerbread Man who really wants to die. A duck transformer. This thing’s odd. Its not really that terrible, but its also definitely not very good and looks really cheap. I imagine Burton was purposely filming on 16mm for aesthetic purposes but when paired with some amateur acting and flimsy sets it just looks cheap, even though a lot of it really is just “Burton’s Style” in its earliest forms. I’m a little surprised this ever made air but I guess 1983 was a very different time for the Disney Channel. I actually only even became aware it existed years later when I went to Disney World on vacation and was so excited that even when I was in the hotel room I could just be watching Disney all the time!!!! Oh, if I could tell kid me what I know now. Frankenweenie (1984) https://letterboxd.com/film/frankenweenie/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rcPe9sojpc “I guess we can’t punish Victor for bringing Sparky back from the dead…” The last hurrah at Disney for Burton, this short was paired with Pinocchio for awhile but test audiences hated it and found it too dark (which is messed up because Pinocchio is way darker). This last “failure” got Burton fired from Disney as not a guy making stuff for not exactly for kids. However Paul Reubens saw it and decided it was the exact style he wanted for his not exactly for kids film Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and brought him on as a director. And I can understand why because this really is a great little piece. Burton’s clearly got money, resources, and actors behind this job at Disney and it kind blows my mind that they didn’t watch it and realize they had a talent. Although I guess maybe they did and just after years of not being able to find a way to fit him into their way or adjust their way to fit him they just gave up and never thought one day he’d come back to them a huge name and success. But it really is a great little piece that is fun and charming, genuinely sad and touching, well made on all levels. I absolutely love the look of it, from Sparky to the graveyard to the lab. Burton really put everything together with this and this is probably where his career really takes off considering both that it landing him his first feature film directing job but also got him fired from Disney. Which in hindsight is probably the best thing for him and us that could have happened because imagine if he had spent the next 20 years making weird little shorts that Disney hated instead of the movies he made away from them? Also I managed to notice this time that Victor’s friends are Sofia Coppola and Jason Hervey. 18 (20). Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) Directed by Tim Burton & Mike Johnson, Screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson, & Pamela Pettler, Based on Original characters created by Tim Burton and Carlos Grangel. Watched on FreeForm, available on DirectTV and Fubo. i gotta say.. Victor really took to the situation well. I’m not sure I would have been as chill about accidently marrying a zombie and being stuck in the underworld. But hey, I guess arranged marriage is arranged marriage. I enjoyed it but I’m not sure it does a lot that Burton’s previous work hasn’t done. I suppose that’s people’s problems with Burton these days. That he’s basically got the same ideas and styles and stuff that he just reuses even though we’ve seen it. I guess I get that, but its also to be expected. Everyone gets old. I guess the problem is that Burton is sometimes a lot more style than substance. I don’t think that’s always the case and when it is that doesn’t always make for a bad movie. But I guess if you just have style and the style is old hat people will be left a bit cold. I wouldn’t go that far with Corpse Bride. The story’s a bit thin but its only 77 minutes so it moves along well. It looks great and I really like the blue moonlight hue used on the Bride. The songs are kind of forgettable but they’re not a focus. There’s some good sentiment and a core little story. I felt bad for the main parties. Any way you cut it one of them was kind of getting screwed in this exchange and they all seemed like nice folks - dead or alive. Then again they all just meant so marriage is kind of a big leap even for the winners. And they brought it home well in the end. Its a sweet and easy little watch. Has enough elements rooted in horror to make it work for this time of year but a nice, positive feeling to it. Which sometimes you might need when watching a lot o horror films and they might start to get to you. Or just… you know… the drat world. October Tally - New (Total) 1. Eaten Alive (1976); 2. The Hills Have Eyes (1977); 3. The New York Ripper (1982); 4. Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970); 5. Life After Beth (2014); 6. Child’s Play (2019); 7. Blacula (1972); Fran’s Challenge #1: Horror Noire: 8. Bones (2001); 9. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985); 10. Two Evil Eyes (1990); 11. Creature with the Atom Brain (1955); 12. Night Monster (1942); 13. Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020); - (14). Attack the Block (2011); 14 (15). Spirits of the Dead (1968); 15 (16). Tales of Terror (1962); 16 (17). As the Gods Will (2014); - (18). Gothic (1986); 17 (19). Tim Burton’s Shorts (1979-1984); 18 (20). Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005); STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Oct 7, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 09:41
|
|
|
 88) Barracuda - 1978 - TubiTV In the glut of killer fish movies that came out after Jaws, some where pretty decent, and others were letdowns. This is one of the latter. There's barely any killer fish killing, and it's more government conspiracies and mind control experiments. Had it just been honest with it's premise, this'd be an okay film, but as it stands it's a clumsy bait and switch.  89) Curse of the Black Widow - 1977 - Youtube This TV Movie of the Week is so 70s, my nightshirt turned into a plaid poncho and my pajama pants are now bell bottoms. Here we have a private investigator looking into a series of murders where men are found wrapped in silk cocoons and mutilated. Overall this one's not bad, but it's very dated by it's sensibilities. It's fine to have on for background noise.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 09:44
|
|
|
Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts Watch 60+ minutes worth of short films These are all on YouTube - links embedded in short titles below. I searched for "short horror films," picked one from the list and then when I finished, I looked for another one in the recommendations.  The Sky - 11:13 As an apocalyptic storm begins to destroy the earth, two teenage girls sit on a hillside to watch it approach and spend their last minutes together. One of the girls receives a frantic telephone message from her estranged mother to meet her before the end, and she has to decide whether to stay with her friend or meet her mother. Really liked this one - the video title says it's "COSMIC HORROR," but that's just the background event. This focuses more on the drama of the moment between the friends. Nice effects, music and acting.  Eldritch Code - 10:00 An I.T. worker at corporation provides tech support for a woman who downloaded a virus onto her computer. The virus (R'lyeh.exe) is, as you might expect by its name, strangely aggressive. This is apparently based on a short story/comic from a written collection - it has some neat visuals near the end and the short is filled with lots of in-jokes and visual puns (file names, products, signs on the wall, etc. all reference HPL names, creatures and places), but the acting and writing is just kind of meh. It's not really scary but it's not really trying to be, it's just an homage to HPL stories. It also ends with one of my favorite Dance with the Dead tracks over the end credits.  096 - 23:45 An agent of the SCP Foundation interrogates one of its scientists over the escape of a deadly creature, SCP-096. An adaptation of one of the SCP Foundation blog's most famous entries, I found the acting to be just ok, but the effects and sound are way better than I expected for an indie production of this scope. If you've read the entry before, you know how this goes down, but it still manages to have some tension.  Miner's Mountain - 17:19 Federal agents question a small-town sheriff over the violent death of a woman years ago when a similar victim is found in the present day. This was excellent - professional quality all the way around, I would watch an expanded/full treatment of something like this. Great sound design and editing. Thought the writing was just ok, but the actors sell the hell out of it, particularly the guy playing the sheriff.  Dont Move - 13:55 Six friends at a drunken party summon a violent demon that will only let one of them survive, so they begin trying to outwit the demon...and each other. Loved this one too. Clever story, fantastic creature design and gore, great editing and acting. Packs a lot into its runtime - not only are the party trying to avoid the demon, it does a great job of outlining personal dramas among the friends while the threat is ongoing and with minimal dialogue to boot.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 12:30
|
|
|
Glad everyone is going wild on the short films. Didn't know how well it would work out. I love short films and usually show some as a pre-show for when I host a horror movie night for friends, but the short film threads I've made in CineD usually die within three (dense) pages.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 12:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:24 |
|
|
4. Theater of Blood (1973) This was added to my list after Fran recommended it in the horror thread and this was a complete blast! Vincent Price plays a Edward Lionheart, a hammy shakespearean actor who starts murdering a group of his harshest critics in a series of Shakespeare-themed murders. This movie leans more towards the comedy side of horror comedy and is better for it. Price like a lethal Looney Tunes character, wearing a variety of goofy disguises as part of his murder schemes. The murders themselves are very entertaining, though I think the Othello one was a bit of a miss. Price gives a great performance and gets a lot of screen time. He plays Lionheart as a terrible actor, overacting almost every line of Shakespeare with the exception of one or two moments of genuine emotion. Diana Riggs is also very good as his daughter Edwina.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2020 12:51
|
|
