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25. Ringu (1998)  Watched On: Stream I hadn't seen Ringu in many years and it still held up pretty great though I still think the American version stands out a little more for me, it's just a little more stylized and polished in a way I like. It's also hard to beat that closet reveal early on in the American version. 26. Deadbeat at Dawn (1988)  Watched On: Shudder Well I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting here but holy poo poo. This opening knife fight is BRUTAL. In fact the whole movie is and gets really uncomfortable at points. The fight choreography isn't that great and the script is so-so but Deadbeat at Dawn is gritty and visceral enough to have something to offer. That being said, I hesitate to call this a horror movie at all even if it does have characters engaging in the supernatural and some pretty wild hallucinations. 27. Night of the Demons 2 (1994)  Watched On: Stream My biggest complaint about Night of the Demons 2 is how long it takes to get to the proverbial fireworks factory, but when it does, it is just a delight. At first it seems like they're trying to just make the first movie twice but there are enough differences that it avoids that sort of cop out. Where Night of the Demons 2 does fall short though is that none of the characters are close to as likable as a few from the original. Even Stooge is missed. Still a great watch though and totally worth your time. 28. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)  Watched On: Stream A classic and one of my very favorite films and I have more than likely watched and reviewed it every season since I started doing these challenges. I don't have too much to say other than I'm always impressed by how well the practical effects hold up, especially Freddy pushing through the wall early on in the movie, that's one of my very favorite effects in any movie.
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Oct 9, 2020 05:05
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24. The Skin I Live In I'm angry that this exists. I'm angry that I watched it. I would advise any and all trans people to avoid this piece of poo poo like the plague. 0/5
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Oct 9, 2020 05:26
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feedmyleg posted:American Movie - rewatch I saw this in a theater when it came out and it rules but I ordered a copy of Coven from him shortly after that and never received it. 
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Oct 9, 2020 05:32
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 Butterfly Kisses (2018) (new watch, Tubi) This got recommended as a solid example of found footage and it was not scary but kinda interesting. The self-referential viral nature of the competing docs about found footage is a neat idea, but it only goes so far. The Blink Man monster is pretty silly, the acting is atrocious, and it's never scary. What you end up having is a rather self-satisfied riff on found footage that doesn't really have much depth. It's not really going to stick with me other than as some horror fans amusing themselves. 2/5  Cube (1997) (rewatch, YouTube) Been a solid decade since I've seen this and it remains super solid. Has the feel of a stage play with the minimalist, recycled set and somewhat exaggerated acting and shots. It wastes no time to get and just keeps rolling, establishing characters quickly and only slightly archetypally. It gets a bit corny with the philosophizing about the nature of the cube and evil, but doesn't dwell too long before moving on. As it builds and you see the ending coming it's still super satisfying. The whole thing is claustrophobic and tense and slightly silly and it really leans in to being just a bit too much. 4/5 1. Eyes Without a Face 2. Come and See 3. Cat People 4. Repulsion 5. Sisters 6. Inland Empire
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Oct 9, 2020 06:07
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 #61) Forbidden World (1982) I genuinely could not recall if I'd seen this before. The monster looked familiar, but beyond that, no full memories. Watching this now, I understand how it could have made so little impression on me, if I had in fact seen it before (I'm thinking I did, the line about reducing humans to protein rang a bell). This is like a chintzy version of Alien mixed with something like Space: 1999; there's a sidekick robot, space laser fights (before the opening credits even roll), quilted space-outfits, hammy set-smashing, kludgy synths, a steam bath room on a spaceship, bumbling around in a California park/alien planet, and inter-species communication through lovely prog music. I remembered it as being directed by Wynorski, but he only has a writing credit on this Corman-produced piece, which may explain why one character's entire apparent purpose is to make innuendos and tease some space boobs, and why women getting naked is a key step in defeating the alien. Anyway, some alien stuff gets on a space janitor's face, he freaks out (understandably), everybody else is arguing about strawberry shortcake, then a mess of stuff (including an absence of quarantine procedures) leads to a big alien being on the ship, intent on eating some humans. That last part, with the action promised by most of the posters, comes in around the 50-minute mark of this 77-minute movie. One actor kind of looks like a greasy Tim Roth from certain angles, which is nice. I like the look of the hallway sets. There's lots of flashing lights on the consoles. The alien has big chompers, and there's a few goopy dummies. Those are the things I like about this movie. If you're hard-up for sci-fi horror, you might wanna give this a shot, but don't go in expecting much. “The galactic food crisis strikes again.”  Rating: 5/10Watched on digital copy, also available on Tubi.
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Oct 9, 2020 06:22
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#11: The People Under the Stairs (1991) The main thing I remembered about my first viewing was Everett McGill running around in a gimp suit, and that was just as great the second time through. Him and Wendy Robie are so much fun to watch in this. Super cartoonishly over-the-top performances, but the overall tone of the movie makes them fit right in. Horror Looney Tunes. The house itself is also incredibly fun. All its booby traps, hidden passageways, and the myriad of rooms each batshit in their own unique ways are a treat. The politics are very heavy-handed, but they're also very core to the movie's concept and since nothing else is very subtle either I think the way they're handled is perfectly appropriate. Consistently fun! Challenges (2/2): 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), 10. Oculus (2013), 11. The People Under the Stairs (1991) blood_dot_biz fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Oct 9, 2020 |
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Oct 9, 2020 06:32
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13: The Dark Red This movie has no idea what it wants to be. A woman is in a mental hospital because her baby died, but she insists it didn’t and was stolen by a cult because her blood type means she has the shining or something. It’s a good premise, but does nothing with it. The first two thirds is just her and her doctor talking, it’s painfully dull and poorly acted. Then it turns into a revenge movie which has a bit of promise but falls flat and resolves too quickly to be interesting.
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Oct 9, 2020 06:33
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 110) The Cleansing Hour - 2019 - Shudder An online show that stages exorcisms ends up having to deal with the real thing. This was interesting. Granted about midway through I guessed where it was going, but the effects were really drat good. I thought they did a very good job incorporating how social media is at this point in time, from Father Max's determination to get a blue check, to the stream chat comments, to the drive for more views and likes. I recommend this one, and you won't be able to hear the Hokey Pokey in the same way again.
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Oct 9, 2020 08:15
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Entry #5: Movies 10-12 10. Quarantine (John Erick Dowdle, 2008) [Netflix-UK, 1st viewing] [Rec] was a movie I really liked, to the point where I didn't want to bother with the American remake. Since I really like found footage style horror, and it's been so long since I've seen the original, I decided to finally check this out and actually quite enjoyed it. The wait was probably beneficial, since my own negative attitude around the release would have made me hyper-critical and unable to enjoy it, and the overall story and events would have been a little more predictable. But, with a faded memory and judgement that is relaxed and not focused on comparisons to the original: The plot is a wonderfully simple and scary one (Obviously not of its own merit). For some the found footage style will be a turn-off, but I think here it is done fairly well and creates tension in scenes with intentional obstructions, slow movement, and unfocused shots without feeling too unnatural. There is plenty of gore and great makeup effects, and the movie continues to increase in pace until the very end. I haven't seen [Rec] since it came out, but I do remember being much more blown away by that one, and compared head-to-head it's definitely the way to go. It's hard to watch this movie and not immediately compare it to the original. However, with my very low expectations, I came out of this pretty surprised and enjoyed it. 3/5 More specific thoughts on this and the original with spoilers: Anyone remember the trailer for this? I remember seeing it constantly and it literally ruins the very last moment of the movie. Or it spoils the same moment in the original if you hadn't seen that yet. It's a shame that the value of selling someone the movie is higher than protecting the integrity of an important scene like that for movie companies. Things like that are why I almost never watch trailers anymore.  11. Quarantine 2: Terminal (John Pogue, 2011) [DVD, 1st viewing] A noticeable drop off in terms of budget, this sequel has a cast of awkward amateurs and almost-attractive C-listers playing the standard lineup of stereotypical characters. The first ten minutes of the movie is a list of clues of what is going to happen. It's a script of almost parody-like dialogue that feels like a rough first draft. Pretty much everything the first movie did well is downgraded and less tense, and the few new things they try new aren't that impressive. All that being said, it's not completely unwatchable. The new location chosen is neat enough, there are remnants from the original plot concept present to make it interesting (even if just for the first half), and there are some fun, gory moments. Watching it back-to-back with the first definitely highlights the lesser qualities in this one, but it's watchable if you can't resist and don't mind a retread of the first. 2.5/5 More specific thoughts with spoilers: They kept referencing the girl taking flying lessons and I really wanted to see a super dumb scene where she flew the plane. Then of course they land at another ravaged airport followed by the credits. Or they get shot down. I'm convinced that was the original plan but the budget made it impossible. Why would they still include that phone call from her Dad?! Instead we got that weird green-screen ending which felt like a super last minute studio suggestion to keep another sequel as a possibility.  12. [Rec] (Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, 2007) [Blu-ray, 3rd viewing] Since I was surprised by the American remake, I wanted to check out the sequels to the original at some point but figured I wouldn't mind seeing this one for the first time in years. It's definitely a scarier and more realistic feeling production. Although the budget looks a touch lower, everything is just done more effectively here. One little thing I like a lot is how naturally the camera moves and occasionally cuts out, it feels like someone really is just filming and not a crew making a movie. And characters don't look directly at the camera, they look at who is holding the camera (the opposite habit was irritating me in the remake). The infected move naturally, too, instead of the slightly exaggerated version later seen. If you haven't seen this and are a found footage fan, it's definitely one of the best ever released. It's a fairly short movie and I'd personally say it is genuinely a scary movie. That stems from real tension and surprises, too, not predictable, loud jump scares and artificial moments. For a while I pretty much watched every found footage movie that I could find, most of them being average to horrible, but this was one of the movies that set the bar so high and showed what is possible within the subgenre. 4/5 Number of movies: 12 Number of first-time viewings: 10
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Oct 9, 2020 09:08
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#6) Alien Abduction: Incident In Lake County So to start off, this movie isn't really good. However, it is somewhat notable for being one of the earlier examples of found footage films. It also has somewhat of a convoluted history, first being conceived as I believe a student film or some other small project, then made into a longer Fox TV movie (which I believe is the version I saw), then chopped into a smaller but still bigger than the original version movie for CW. This is overly long, with cut ins to "experts" talking about the movie (which I think was an effort likely by fox to make it seem more "real", similar to their Alien Autopsy program). There's actually some decent ideas here maybe, but the terrible effects (what little there are), somewhat nonsensical writing, and overly long time with absolutely no scares really dings it. Also I kept thinking how much more natural a lot of the goings on would've seemed had this been a haunting/supernatural movie rather than aliens. Slumber Party Alien Abduction from VHS 2 does everything this wants to only about 100x better. Interesting only as a fairly early entry in the found footage subgenre, but otherwise really skippable. 1.5 / 5 Total: 6 1. In a Stranger's House / 2. The Loved Ones / 3. Scare Me / 4. Scare Me / 5. Egg / 6. Alien Abduction: Incident In Lake County
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Oct 9, 2020 09:23
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Vampires vs. the Bronx Vampires suck the life out a community with money and hummus and three adolescent boys try to stop them Vampires as a metaphor for gentrification is a great idea. "Murnau Properties" was a neat joke. Vlad the Impaler as their corporate mascot is milking it a bit. The three boys are all likeable and believable and the young actors are good. The film is cute and funny but treats the threat seriously. It would make a good gateway horror movie for kids. Watchlist: Tenebrae; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; Body Melt; In Search of Darkness; The Monster Club; Twilight; The Beyond; Scream Blacula Scream FC#1; Raw; The Invisible Man (2020); Hotel Transylvania; a bunch of shorts FC#2; Sharknado; Vampires vs. the Bronx (total: 13?)
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Oct 9, 2020 11:06
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 15) Panic (aka Bakterion, aka Zombi 4) I actually couldn't find a trailer for this one anywhere  Seen on: HD copy on YouTube; also free on Tubi but it's a terrible print. A scientist working on a germ warfare experiment is accidentally exposed to a virus, turning him into a murderous disfigured monster that feeds on blood. It's up to the authorities to quarantine the monster and figure out how to eliminate him and the virus he's released before it gets out into the rest of the world. I have vivid memories of finding this one on the shelf in the video department of the local grocery store when I was about 9 or 10 years old. The clamshell box it came in was very large and unique, and the artwork on the front freaked me out (yes, this is another pick of mine for the challenge using that criteria). This is an Italian-Spanish production that is pitched as a horror film, but feels more like a Quatermass film or a disaster movie - the focus is less on the monster and killings sprinkled throughout and more on the stuffy professors, law enforcement and military men who are trying to figure out what went wrong and how to stop it. It's pretty dull. They throw in a bunch of nudity and salacious situations but that doesn't distract from the dullness either. Most of the implied horror in the film revolves around "Plan Q," i.e. the military plan to quarantine the town, and by the film's end there's a countdown threat involving a bomber nuke if they don't kill the mutated scientist. And then it just ends, with the ridiculous punchline in the credits saying: WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN MIGHT REALLY HAPPEN ... PERHAPS IT ALREADY HAS! and I respond in my best Joel voice, "Oh, I don't know."
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Oct 9, 2020 11:06
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alansmithee posted:#6) Alien Abduction: Incident In Lake County I rewatched this a couple of years back, and enjoyed it for the nostalgia, but at the time in the mid 90s, I thought it was real and terrifying. How can you ignore this footage! Aliens are real! And I didn't even buy into alien autopsy, so not sure how this one got me. Of course if anyone missed it, there was a bunch of declassified videos this year, and the government admitted UFOs are real, and nobody know what they are. Guess this was the year to do it, since there are clearly more pressing issues.
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Oct 9, 2020 11:58
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 24. The Skin I Live In (2011) Let's try this again. The Skin I Live In is a deeply transmisogynistic tale about a surgeon, played by Antonio Banderas, forcing Vincente, a male rapist, to undergo a vaginoplasty and live as a woman. Vincente is raped at multiple points of the film, most notably in a scene shot whimsically as a literal cat and mouse game, in which the filmmakers were too loving cowardly to have the Banderas character take on the responsibility of the act, and instead make it the actions of a bullshit shadow-side long lost brother, who immediately disappears from the film afterward. If you are wondering, yes, these are spoilers, and no, I don't believe transmisogyny should be offered the shielding of spoiler tags, just as I wouldn't act coyly with the plot of A Birth of a Nation. My emotional journey during this film was as follows. I was shaking with anger at around the 30-minute mark. That’s the whimsical rape scene if you're wondering. I can't remember the last time I shook with anger at a film, maybe never, and I didn't even know the trans reveal at this point. I was angry that the character Vincente, who is presented as a cis-woman at this point in the film in multiple leering male-gaze infused shots, is shown being raped and having the rapist dress and act clownishly the whole time. After the rape, Vicente acts normally as if no trauma had occurred. This rape scene is worse than I Spit on Your Grave, worse than Street Trash, worse than any number of other films which use rape and have received a sketchy reputation because of it, because at least those films have the decency to act like they're showing a rape scene, and show some sympathy for the victim. When the vaginoplasty scene was revealed, I suddenly found myself in tears. I realised exactly the horror of the transmisogyny contained within the film, and far too numerous realisations to count all hit me at once. I didn't stop crying for another four hours. I went to bed furious. I woke up furious, and my first thoughts were of this piece of poo poo movie. The absolutely insulting idea that a vaginoplasty, something I and so many other trans-women desire for ourselves to alleviate our pain, something that we undergo invasive surgeries to achieve, and suffer extremely long recovery times, is used as a tawdry punishment to shock cis audiences, is the very height of insulting and hurtful bullshit. Let's not even move onto what this film is really doing in conflating rapists and trans women, because that is some TERF adjacent poo poo that I will not gladly step in. This is my first Pedro Almodovar film, and it's likely my last. I've had his films recommended to me before as having strong LGBTQ+ themes, but now I don't trust him at all. Given the heaped praise passed onto him and this film everywhere online, I imagine there are multiple cis acts of logical contortion which make this film palatable for you, and let me say right now that I'm not interested in any them. If you want to be a friend to trans people, you will spoil the plot of this film far and wide, so that other trans people don't have to suffer the wretched experience I just went through. gently caress this movie. gently caress the entire cast and crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IkddsjtAA&t=11s 0/5
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Oct 9, 2020 12:30
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 Not directed at your reaction but directed at the movie. Holy poo poo that sounds like a nightmare.
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Oct 9, 2020 12:41
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Jesus Christmas im so sorry you experienced that. It being so strongly mentioned in the same breath as Eyes Without a Face has made it one of those movies I’ve hovered the mouse over for years on streaming sites but never fully committed to. gently caress that noise.
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Oct 9, 2020 12:44
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Well now I'm glad it wasn't available to me to watch. I'm truly sorry you experienced that.
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Oct 9, 2020 12:47
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Debbie Does Dagon posted:
Well, gently caress, I’m so sorry you went through that and that my post led you to watching it. Also thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’m going to have to rethink my take on the film and my reaction to it. Do you mind if I link to your post from my original post as a “please read this before deciding if you want to want it” disclaimer?
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Oct 9, 2020 12:50
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gey muckle mowser posted:Well, gently caress, I’m so sorry you went through that and that my post led you to watching it. Also thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’m going to have to rethink my take on the film and my reaction to it. Do you mind if I link to your post from my original post as a “please read this before deciding if you want to want it” disclaimer? Sure! I do have to thank you for finally inspiring me to give Eyes Without a Face a watch, that was a wonderful experience.
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Oct 9, 2020 12:55
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Jesus Christ that's the second "now you're trans!" as punishment film I've heard about this month. (The other was The Assignment.)
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Oct 9, 2020 14:22
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 Graveyard Shift I guess I enjoyed this but in the end it didn't really go anywhere. I was on board because you've got some sort of creature stalking around while Brad Dourif delivers dramatic monologues so ok you've got me interested. But the creature doesn't actually deliver and too many of the characters were bland and forgettable. Like, Andrew Divoff is in it and he's got basically nothing to do, he's just there. I love creature features but they have to go a bit further than this, I mean the creature is probably on-screen for less than 10 minutes and they're a very underwhelming 10 minutes. It also had awkward transitions as if it were filmed as a t.v. movie or something? I dunno what that was about, the director doesn't even have a wikipedia page so I guess the overall talent just wasn't there on this one to make it come together. 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 11.(FRAN CHALLENGE: Horror Noire) Vampires vs. the Bronx 12. Dracula(Spanish Version 1931) 13. Ernest Scared Stupid 14. House of Usher 15. The Fog 16. Mimic 17. Graveyard Shift
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Oct 9, 2020 15:32
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5. The Mummy (1958) Outside of the 1999 version, I've always had very little interest in other mummy movies as for whatever reason I just don't find mummies to be very interesting horror villains. This version by Hammer however has what I think is the best mummy ever put to film. The makeup and costume are excellent and Lee's physical performance is one of his best. Covered in grimy skin tight bandages, he cuts an incredibly imposing figure. He doesn't walk, he trudges and always in the most direct path to his target while destroying any part of the set that gets in his way. It's always tense when he's on screen and the character is a precursor to modern slasher villains like Jason. My biggest problem with the movie is the "shady evil foreigner" aspect to the plot and while they cast an actual person of color for the role of the main human villain, they still put Lee in brownface during the pre-mummy flashbacks. I will give some credit to at least giving the Egyptian villain a sympathetic motivation: fury at the disrespect by the British to his religion and culture. I'm not sure it would have played that way in 1959 but I was much more sympathetic to him than the upper class archeologists he sends the mummy after. It's not Hammer's best but it's definitely worth watching for the titular mummy, and I'd definitely recommend it over what I've seen of the Universal mummy films.
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Oct 9, 2020 15:47
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7. From Beyond Another movie that I really should have watched before now. I could again go on and on about the special effects just like Re-Animator. It was nice seeing (until his pineal gland expanded) Jeffrey Combs being the guy that actually wanted to stop things when they went too far. Of course, just like Re-Animator, things go even more to complete poo poo in the last 10-15 minutes, and honestly it's probably my favorite part. The hospital portion was probably the only point of the movie I'd call "low", but overall a very fun watch with some very 80s thoughts about BDSM. Quite a scene to end on, I wish more of this style of Lovecraft movie was still made. Hopefully things like Color Out of Space and such means we'll get some more. 9/10
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Oct 9, 2020 15:59
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40. The Quatermass Conclusion (1979)  This is the final film of Quatermass, originally this was actually a 4 part Serial for BBC. However, wanting to earn money led to the 4 hour series being cut down to a 100 minute theatrical film for the international market. I've now watched all 4 of the Quatermass films , I mean as far as rankings go this one I actually really really liked. Quatermass and the Pit is still probably the best one though. There's a prevailing theme through out all 4 of the films : The failure of science to uplift man. In the first Quatermass film you have a experimental rocket travel to space and a man come back changed reverting to a almost bestial form. Quatermass intention isn't to save this man but to stop him from leading to the destruction of the world. The 2nd Film has the lofty goals of space travel and planning a outpost on the moon, only to discover a alien force has easily taken over the local government in a Invasion of the Body Snatchers style way. The third film again faces aliens but instead they bring out the primal urges of man which would eventually leads to mans destruction. In the final one, aliens are harvesting humans , humans who believe that the lights that the aliens exhibit at ancient sites are in fact transportation to a better world. In all the films humanity is on the brink of destruction and collapse only barely escaping extinction. The fourth film is probably the most cynical. It actually takes place in a dystopian future, trash is everywhere, society as just broken down. We don't see bustling cities but garbage everywhere and gang warfare. The human experiment has failed. Quatermass is a old broken down man who's only goal is finding his granddaughter. This is the world that Quatermass finds himself in again struggling to fight for the survival of the human race. It' a really bleak ending from the earlier films. I overall really liked it and really recommend this version of Quatermass. I have not seen the serial this was edited from but for me at least it was a pretty complete movie. The action is sporadic but very good , the acting is excellent, and the plot while light on horror ( there's very little in the way of horror really) it is a bleak undercurrent to the entire film. Anyway like I said its a bleak ending but good. There's a lot going on in this film, the failure of the old vs the young, societal collapse, the failure of science to uplift man, the failure of our governments. Highly recommended if you've watched the other Quatermass films. Hollismason fucked around with this message at 16:14 on Oct 9, 2020 |
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Oct 9, 2020 16:04
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moths posted:Jesus Christ that's the second "now you're trans!" as punishment film I've heard about this month. There's also a lovely movie called Victim that sounds like it has a similar plot to The Skin I Live In, but shot and staged like an early 2000s torture porn film. It was pretty grotesque and should be avoided at all costs.
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Oct 9, 2020 16:17
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Yeah, Victim was total poo poo. #62) Child's Play (1988) A much different animal from the gonzo horror comedy of later entries, this first chapter in the post-human antics of Charles “Chucky” Lee Ray goes for more of a thriller vibe. Ray, a part-time strangler, has died in the line of duty, going down in a blaze of glory in a toy store. Luckily, he planned ahead, and has some soul transferal magic up his sleeve, allowing him to carry on in a doll's body. He didn't read all the terms and conditions, though, and finds that there's a caveat on his new body; he needs to hop to a new human one soon, or his essence will fully transform the doll to flesh and blood, and he'll be stuck. Now, it's a race against time to save his soul, even if it means killing a few people and taking over a young boy's body. Alex Vincent plays that boy, Andy Barclay, and while he has a lot of clunky line deliveries, he puts in a good presence as the kid caught in all this, moving from confused, to afraid, to traumatized over the course of the film. Catherine Hicks plays his mother, hassled and harried at work and at home, but determined to keep her son safe. And Chris Sarandon is the cop who shot Ray down, now assigned to investigate the Barclays after Chucky couldn't contain his murderous rage at not being allowed to watch the 9:00 news. Brad Dourif plays Ray and voices his doll incarnation, bringing a vicious playfulness to his antagonism, and he's easily the highlight of the film, alongside the doll design and puppeteering. A bit basic in story and execution, but almost all of the sequels took what was established here and turned it to more creative ends, happily. “Hi, I like to be hugged.” Rating: 7/10Watched on Dollar Tree Blu-ray.
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Oct 9, 2020 16:39
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Orchestrated Mess posted:10. Quarantine (John Erick Dowdle, 2008) [Netflix-UK, 1st viewing] Hey, thanks for doing this! I'm also a huge [Rec] fan after catching it in the cinema and being blown away by it, then eye-rolled the remake. Then heard the remake isn't actually that bad, so got curious. I appreciate the order you watched them in for the reasons you did too, not having the original so fresh in your mind but then able to revisit it for a final comparison at the end. I have it on my watchlist, will see if I get to it this season or not.
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Oct 9, 2020 16:51
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7. Sleepaway Camp (The Last Drive-In version) For most of the film I thought my main takeaways would be the overall mean spirited nature of the movie, the weird acceptance of the pedo chef, the weird acceptance of the pedo owner, the overall blasé reaction to the deaths of many people, the cruelty of taking someone back to the scene of the brutal death of their father and sibling, the relentless bullying of someone just because they were shy, and many other 'off' aspects that made this feel like an easy Friday 13th clone. Then the movie ended and none of these things seemed to matter anymore. ***½
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Oct 9, 2020 17:28
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EL BROMANCE posted:Hey, thanks for doing this! I'm also a huge [Rec] fan after catching it in the cinema and being blown away by it, then eye-rolled the remake. Then heard the remake isn't actually that bad, so got curious. I appreciate the order you watched them in for the reasons you did too, not having the original so fresh in your mind but then able to revisit it for a final comparison at the end. I have it on my watchlist, will see if I get to it this season or not. I really like the remake. I think they're pretty comparable. I don't know if its worth seeking out if you've seen the original. It has a different explanation but as I remember is otherwise a very faithful remake. I've probably seen the remake more than the original just because of availability but I should seek out the original since its been awhile.
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Oct 9, 2020 17:44
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 25. Eyes Without a Face (1960) It's fascinating how much subtle storytelling and emotion they manage to pack into the opening car ride, and with not a word spoken. It establishes tension, intrigue, and character so effortlessly. I think one reason that I slept on Eyes Without a Face for so long, and this is incredibly silly, but the concept felt so similar to The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. I wasn’t really in the mood to repeat the experience of another tiresome mad scientist abusing the women in their lives story. Upon that hackneyed b-movie premise though, sits so much haunting and unobtrusive beauty. Rather than really dive into the film too deeply, I thought I’d just share a couple of stills, which I think illustrates this attention to detail. So many directors rush past these small, seemingly unimportant moments, and it’s a shame because there’s so much opportunity there to build a rapport with the audience.     I watched this on Prime, and the little "x-ray" trivia thing mentioned John Carpenter took inspiration for Michael Myers’ mask from this film. It seems like such an odd leap that Christiane's mournful quiet face would inspire The Shape. The genius of Eyes Without a Face is that it builds upon the idea of the eyes being the window into the soul. Christiane’s eyes are so soulful that they create an instant and deep emotional connection with the audience. Carpenter inverts this to demonstrate that Michael’s soul is empty, yielding nothing but a blank stare. 4.5/5  25.1 He Took His Skin Off For Me (2014, short) https://youtu.be/ERP_jb6c9fQ A man pleases his partner by pulling his skin off. It's a fascinating horrific premise taken to the extremes of mundanity, as the couple navigates the niggling and compounding everyday issues of their new life. It's a surprisingly nuanced reflection on the dynamics within relationships, about the balance and limits of self-sacrifice and self-expression. I doubt this was the intention given the set-up and conclusion, but for me this was a perfect encapsulation of life in the closet. The concept of persisting in a charade that will please others, but at the cost of your own happiness is one that resonates very strongly with me. I spent a long time in the wrong skin, worrying about the happiness and comfort of others without caring for myself, and that poo poo just hurts on multiple levels. 3.5/5  Just look at these sauve motherfuckers. 25.2 Clue (1985) I'm not counting rewatches toward my total, but I needed this film today. Clue is my warm Linus blanket that I've carried with me and enjoyed for as long as I can recall. I guess the stereotype these days is for kids to constantly binge-watch Frozen and Moana, although it may have moved on, I admit to being out of touch. For me, it was Clue and Labyrinth, and if you were the same you're mad gay now. Sorry, I don't make the rules. The elephant in the room is that this is a film based on the popular board game Cluedo, and features all of the familiar characters, setting, and plot. What sets this apart from other cheap cash-ins is the wonderful cast, the supremely quotable and morbidly hilarious script, the gothic mystery setting, the tremendous levels of camp, and the gorgeous manor location and period costuming. I especially love that the film pokes fun at the many "moral" outrages of the '50s. The comedic pearl-clutching over Mr. Green's homosexuality and Wadsworth's socialist friends is precious. I'm also not sure I've seen another film that intertwines dextrous verbal comedic sparring and straight-up slapstick so well, especially in a film that gets its laughs from murder, sex work, and eating monkey's brains. 5/5 Total: 25 Queer Interest: 13 Fran Challenges: 2 Horror Noire, Short Cuts Scream Stream: 4 Countries Visited: 15 USA, Hungary, Portugal, Vietnam, Georgia, Switzerland, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Germany, Finland, France, Spain, Japan, Monaco Debbie Does Dagon fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Oct 9, 2020 |
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Oct 9, 2020 17:48
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41. Soylent Green (1973)  Starring Charleton Heston. Honestly I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. This really sits in that weird comfort zone of dystopian scifi thriller and horror. The horror of this movie really comes from the discovery of the mystery. Its really light on horror over all. However, if you love dystopian post apocalyptic thriller films then you'll really like this movie. I was surprised having only seen this years ago on television how well they establish the world. There's a lot of scenes in this that really are just there to show you how bad poo poo has gotten. Food is basically not existant, the world is overpopulated, mass homelessness, and people are in such desperate times that its not uncommon for a woman to become a fixture that comes with an apartment. Heston does a good job as Thorn , a policeman who's investigating a murder that leads to a larger conspiracy. It kind of sucks that the ending of this has been spoiled for so many people because without that then I think this would be a really better film. I imagine seeing this in the theaters for the first time it was probably quite shocking . Overall just a excellent film , well directed, acting, and the setting and production really make you feel like it is the end of the world as we know it.
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Oct 9, 2020 17:53
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Debbie Does Dagon posted:What sets this apart from other cheap cash-ins is the wonderful cast, the supremely quotable and morbidly hilarious script, the gothic mystery setting, the tremendous levels of camp, and the gorgeous manor location and period costuming. I very much enjoy the understatement in the way this sentence starts out as a "but there's a silver lining" sort of thing, and the silver lining is that the movie is brilliantly written, cast, performed, dressed, and staged. Which is, of course, true.
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Oct 9, 2020 17:58
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8. Tetsuo: The Iron Man Maybe the most consistently frantic movie I've ever watched - I'm kind of glad it was only a little over an hour long. It was pretty much late 80s/early 90s industrial music: the film. I think this is by far the hardest movie so far to actually talk about, so I'll revert back to talking about effects yet again. They were great, low budget, and perfect for the movie. Shooting in black & white was a great choice, and the way they hid the low budget of the movie was very well done. I have no idea what exactly caused either of the men to fully become metal, but I do know I'll be extra careful not to hit a metal fetishist with my car. Are either of the other Tetsuo films worth watching?
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Oct 9, 2020 18:00
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 25. De Lift - Dir: Dick Maas - 1983 - Shudder So this was a surprise. This movie is excellently shot, some real neat stuff going on on the screen with shot composition and framing. the story kinda comes and goes, I think with another pass this could've been a lot more interesting on the story/character front than what we got, but our lead Felix is solid if not dealing with a very weird situation you kinda gotta let pass over you. It's a bit cronerbergian in the end result of why the lift is going crazy and I appreciated it, I think if it had gone further down that hole with like it needing victims to complete its flesh lift or something, but ya deal with the budget you're given. I appreciate what this movie was going for and think its a lot of fun in its extremely B-movie-ness. recommended for late night viewing with a couple tall glasses of water.
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Oct 9, 2020 18:01
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 #63) There Was a Little Girl (1981) One of the handful of films directed by Ovidio Assonitis (Beyond the Door, Tentacles, and a writing credit on The Visitor), this Video Nasty is the story of identical twin sisters who were in a (probably) non-sexual S&M relationship when they were younger. Now grown, the dom (Mary) is in a mental hospital, while the sub (Julia) has moved on to a teaching position with hearing-impaired children. As their birthday approaches, the dom sister escapes from the hospital, and, of course, starts killing, drawing closer to her sister with each attack. If this weren't shot so flatly,it might have a shot at infusing the story-telling with some uncertainty. Something to play on the growing mental instability of the 'normal' sister. Her uncle, a priest, is also a large part of the story, but his actor plays things so goofily that he ended up being a detractor from the story for me. More effective were the relatively simple, but grounding, scenes of Julia in class, working with the children, and explaining some hard truths to them. Riz Ortolani did the score, which uses a lot of bubbling and tweeting synth voices; it's interesting, but doesn't really fit the mood or setting of the movie, for the most part. I was expecting more of a twist than the movie delivered, so the whole thing fell a bit flat for me. Probably won't revisit this one anytime soon, but when I do, I'll try to take it more on its own terms. “You know dear, sometimes, those us with a sensitive temperament are often tried by the brutality of this world.” Rating: 6/10Watched on digital copy, also available on Shudder.
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Oct 9, 2020 18:25
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9) Frailty (2001) Watched on Amazon Prime  This is the first, and possibly only, of my 31 first watches that I’ve actively avoided. My roommate in college raved about how great this movie was and that I had to see it. He had questionable taste in other films at the time, and so it became cemented in my mind that Frailty was likely not a good watch. Boy howdy was I wrong. The family drama and religious zealotry are very well portrayed, and while I’ve always been at least a silent supporter of Matthew McConaughey, I now wish he hadn’t veered into romantic comedies in the early to mid 2000s and had stayed on this track of spooks. I’ll forgive him though, as he made bank and went on to stuff like Dallas Buyer’s Club and Mud. His turn here as both narrator and central figure is low-key and totally caught me off guard considering the direction his career would take immediately following this. Also, the child actors were quite good in this, especially young Fenton. Gushing aside, I’m a little perturbed about the ending and what it implies, but that’s mainly due to my lack of religion I think. There may be one twist too many by the end of this for my taste. I won’t say anything more in case other people haven’t seen it yet. Lessons learned (which is really just turning into things that stuck out to me): A. Wow those shots of young Fenton running to the police station were bad. B. I’m really curious if there were any cuts to the script that explained why the axe was named Otis. C. Bill Paxton was so good. I miss him. Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts Apologies for swiping some from other posters, but I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about! Dylan (11:59) This one is mostly skippable for unoriginal/unsurprising plotting, although the performances are top notch. Really does a great job of slowly ratcheting up the threat level. Scratch (14:46) This one hit me kinda hard. It feels like there’s a mental health and medication allegory here, coupled with a dash of gaslighting and stigma. The ending is somewhat predictable by the halfway point, but I think it’s satisfying nonetheless. I’m glad I blind-viewed this one. I Feel Fantastic (2:31) Definitely unsettling, but that won’t stop me from humming this in my head for the next three days. Hey hey heeeeey. Unidentified (6:11) A pretty cool idea that I could have spent more time with. This could have been a half-hour Twilight Zone episode. Catcalls (8:24) Required viewing for the Harvey Weinsteins of the world, Clockwork Orange style. I do feel bad for the main dude’s wife though; she didn’t deserve whatever happened to her. Special Day (7:09) Great ambience, a tight little story, and a creepy ending. Neat creature design that is almost spoiled by showing too much of it. Oscar’s Bell (12:15) Extra points for the pupper. The camerawork is fantastic and makes great use of the shadows. I did not see the ending coming, so kudos to that. Too Many Cooks (11:11) I didn’t include this in my total time watched, although I feel there are enough horror elements here to probably count it (Fran correct me if I’m wrong). The insidious nature of this one is something I enjoy coming back to from time to time and trying to catch background things that I hadn’t caught before. I didn’t see this when it originally aired, but I would imagine it wrecked the brains of anyone who did. Total watching time: 1 hour, 3 minutes, 15 seconds
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Oct 9, 2020 18:38
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Yea Bill Paxton definitely would've been one of those guys who would be delivering great performances throughout his 60's and into his 70s(and maybe beyond) so it's a huge loss to film that he's not around to do that.
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Oct 9, 2020 18:42
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12) Overlord (2018) I was a bit PO'd that I missed this at the cinema when it came out. Turns out I shouldn't have been concerned. It's that Hollywood kind of very expensive cheap crap that lasts less time in the mind than the taste of popcorn stays in your mouth. There's one funny scene (the minefield) and that's it.
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Oct 9, 2020 18:46
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Basebf555 posted:Yea Bill Paxton definitely would've been one of those guys who would be delivering great performances throughout his 60's and into his 70s(and maybe beyond) so it's a huge loss to film that he's not around to do that. Totally. I haven't seen him in Near Dark so I might try to seek that one out for this challenge. Also, is Brain Dead (not Braindead) worth a watch? It's got Double Bills!
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Oct 9, 2020 18:47
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3. Friday 13th Part III  I love the fact that the Friday the 13th franchise never tries to be something it's not, and gives the audience what it wants- every time. No filler. No commentary. Just nonstop pure mayhem. Although I've never been able to watch the movie in 3D as it was intended, it doesn't make the gratuitous 3D shots any less fun. Joints being passed through the 4th wall, eye balls popping out, pitchforks sticking out of dead bodies- the movie has it all. The movie contains one of my favorite deaths, wherein a character is split in half down the middle. All of the characters are 2 dimensional walking stereotypes, but that's a benchmark of the genre. When confronted with death, they bumble and make bad decisions. Characters who are supposed to be dead come back to save another character. Nothing in the movie makes sense, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Shelly as well may be the original incel prototype, as he continually makes a series of bad decisions to further alienate the opposite sex and blames the woman instead of reflecting on what he may have done wrong. His death is one of those moments that tries to hint at the fact that when it comes to certain kills, you're supposed to cheer for the bad guy. The water jump scare is a big puzzling, but it comes off as more of a tribute than a straight up copy. Nothing about the movie stands out as being special, but all the mainstays are there, and it's done well to boot. Tons of cheesy practical effects, lots of creative kills- it's one of those movies that gets played in the background constantly. 4/5
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Oct 9, 2020 18:49
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