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#23: The Last Broadcast In late 1995, four men working on a TV show about the paranormal went into the New Jersey Pine Barrens to shoot a live special searching for the Jersey Devil. Only one returned alive. A documentary filmmaker attempts to piece together the story of what happened, as well as exonerate the man convicted of the crime, using the only video footage available. One of a few found footage horror films made before the genre was really classified (though obviously it has its roots in epistolary fiction going back centuries), The Last Broadcast has a reputation that precedes it- I know when The Blair Witch Project came out a year later a lot of people pointed to this as something it was "ripping off" (which, maybe? Sorta.) But this is a much different breed of found footage- we don't see a lot of the source material, it's presented more like a true crime documentary. There are lots of interviews with people involved with the case, there's material from the trial, etc. The effect is generally pretty strong. While I was initially sorta disappointed at how little we see (particularly from the titular broadcast, which itself was a bust- everything happened in the wee morning hours after), the film's dedication to its form is admirable. Even the more amateurish touches actually tend to work in the film's favor, making it look like, well, a cheap local sensationalist piece. (Though there are the "newspaper clippings" clearly done on somebody's desktop.) There is, ultimately, a very strong sense of dread and unease, an atmosphere of uncertainty. But then, there is the ending. I was actually cool with the face being revealed as that of the documentarian- like, yeah, there's a certain symbolic value to that. If only it stopped there, instead of completely breaking with the documentary format, giving us a clumsy and rather nasty final murder, and then sorta trickling to a close. This REALLY hurts the movie, like a lot. It's like a lot of creepypastas that come up with kinda disturbing ideas but never know when to stop. So much of this movie is cool and interesting, and then that happens. I dunno. It has historical value but, well.
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Oct 20, 2020 03:17
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October 19 - Scars of Dracula Getting close to the end of my Hammer movie viewing for the year. I've watched so many Hammer films over the past few years, I'm starting to wonder if I've got a decent shot of watching all of their horror movies.  Dracula gets extra violent as he slaughters a church full of women and stabs a girl in the stomach over and over again. This time he was revived by a terrible looking bat puppet that drools blood onto his ashes. After a bit of the violence, a 70's guy living in Victorian Engla-Germany has to flee the country after he's caught with the burgermaster's daughter. 70's guy shows up at Dracula's castle where he's invited to spend the night. Then some other people follow, trying to find him. Oh my god, Christopher Lee pulls a Wesley Snipes in this film. He's laying in his coffin and I guess he's supposed to open his eyes and stare down the guy who stakes him, but his eyes remain closed and they superimpose open eyes on his eyelids. I don't know if that was the original intention of the film, but it's kind of amazing in the context of Blade III... This movie really feels like Hammer is losing their way as cinema is getting a harder edge than their gothic films and they're trying to merge those with more modern (for 1970) film styles. 70's guy is just doesn't fit the setting at all. The over the top violence feels simultaneously too far in the context of gothic horror and not far enough to really bring a hard edge to things. I'm really not sure what was up with Dracula's woman here. She has a reflection and can be stabbed to death, so she's not a vampire. But she tries to bite 70's man and drink his blood so she is a vampire? Maybe? She exits way too soon, as well. I thought she was being set up as Dracula's partner in the movie and arranging some kind of trap, but then Dracula gets stabby (which feels way out of character) and nothing comes of her actions. She was there for some eye candy and to get killed. Terrible bat puppets are kind of traditional with vampire movies up to this point but most of them have the good grace to not linger on them. Puppet bat shows up for a scene and then is gone. This bad bat puppet is around for pretty much the entire film, getting swung on a wire at people constantly. And it always looks bad because Hammer films are brightly lit and shot flat. I've got a lot of negative points here, but Scars of Dracula is fine. It's sloppy and the plot meanders a lot in ways that don't make a whole lot of sense, but it does give Christopher Lee plenty to do. Also, it features Patrick Troughton fresh from Doctor Who as the Renfield for the film. If you were doing a full watch of Hammer Dracula movies, it wouldn't make you question why you were doing that to yourself. It's just it wouldn't make you really excited about where the series was going. Maxwell Lord posted:The Last Broadcast has a reputation that precedes it- I know when The Blair Witch Project came out a year later a lot of people pointed to this as something it was "ripping off" (which, maybe? Sorta.) As I recall, the only person who was really saying Blair Witch was ripping off The Last Broadcast were the makers of The Last Broadcast and they were making a lot of noise online about it. I think anyone else who has watched both wouldn't agree with that assessment. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 03:31
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Army of Darkness (Theatrical Version, 1993)* My other favorite comfort film. I saw this, in theaters, when it was originally released. As a fan who was obsessed with Sam Raimi's Darkman, I knew I had to see this, even though at the time I wasn't really a fan of the horror genre. I hadn't seen either of the preceding films; in fact, the cover to the EVIL DEAD 2 VHS had creeped me out for years. But I loved Darkman, and the tagline "Trapped in Time. Surrounded by Evil. Low on Gas." helped convinced me that this wasn't going a typical horror film. So not really knowing what to expect, I went to see it. And I was so glad I did. This was such an amazing experience to watch this film unfold. Humor in a horror film that was actually funny. And making the man from the future be a dick to the people in the past was genius, even if the man himself was an idiot. The horror hit all the right places, and the comedy to defuse that tension was so perfectly placed. I left the theater with a huge grin on my face, so happy that I talked myself into seeing it. And over the years, my love for it (and the other films in the trilogy that I decide I had to experience) has grown. Sam, Bruce, and Rob, and everyone else involved created something truly special, and I'm so glad that Army of Darkness exists. Five out of Five Delta Oldsmobile Classics. Watched on DVD, duh. *I prefer the ending on the Theatrical Version to the Director's Cut. Yeah, the DC ending might have been more in line with the endings of previous two, but the Theatrical Version's ending is just so awesome and fun (and it still retains that "Ash screwed up again" that the other films had; he may have gotten home, but there are still Deadites on the loose just because he didn't say EVERY tiny little syllable.) 1. Deep Rising 2. The Night Stalker 3. The Car 4. Land of the Dead 5. Bug 6. The Addams Family (2020) 7. The Gorgon 8. The Initiation 9. Sweet Sixteen 10. The Addams Family (1990) 11. Addams Family Values 12. Hubie Halloween 13. Trucks 14. Eaten Alive 15. Bigfoot (1970) 16. Night of the Lepus 17. Tremors 18. Army of Darkness (Theatrical Version)
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Oct 20, 2020 03:44
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 Children of the Damned, 1964 The sequel to Village of the Damned. Well, thematic anyway, as no event from the first movie is mentioned. In fact, this a new plot all together. The UN has done an international IQ test and found six children from all over the world with identically superhuman scores. They are all to be brought together to London to meet and for further study. So far, far less dramatic than everyone in a village passing out at the same time. And this is far less of a straight up a horror movie than the previous one. The children are cold and there's implications of things they might have done in the past, but they aren't the calculated evil the previous children were. The main kid we follow, who is native to London, does tries to kill his own mother, so there's that. But the kills after that is purely in self defense. As the U.S.S.R., America and other nations gets cold feet on the whole thing and want the children to return before the meeting, they all escape from their embassies and band together in an run down abandoned church. The British and various governments try to agree on what to do next. Some realize how dangerous these kids might be and want to kill them, others want the weapon technology they could get from them. Children of the Damned is less sci-fi horror and more straight up serious science fiction dealing with morals in the face of potential threats we don't understand. The whole movie just feels way bigger. Not just because of London being a bigger setting than some village, but because of the international stakes. I'd go as far to say this is an underrated classic. Hot Dog Day #89 fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 03:48
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 Crash (1996) (first time watch, DVD) Figured I'd do a Cronenberg I always meant to see. And Cronenberg doing JG Ballard with a stellar cast (Spader, Hunt, Unger, Koteas, Arquette) with a Howard Shore score?? Yes please. This movie is my favourite take on the 90s genre of jaded rich people are just trying to feel alive because it fully embraces the capitalist death cult. The sex is visceral and Cronenberg captures that Ballardian critique of capitalist alienation: intermingling of desire and metal and destruction of car culture and the sheer alienness of modern car-centric cityscapes. Always cool to see Toronto onscreen. Like Dead Ringers it reeeeally tries to make you uncomfortable, shoving the human body and the metal that surrounds it in your face. The mingling of desire, destruction, the mingling of metal and flesh, and a death wish has that true existential horror of discomfort with modern civilization. It takes a long time getting to its point, revelling in hetero- and homosexual sex that it becomes a bit boring but it's pretty unique and interesting and Shore's jangly score kicks it up. Definitely worth a watch. 4/5 1. Eyes Without a Face 2. Come and See 3. Cat People 4. Repulsion 5. Sisters 6. Inland Empire 7. Butterfly Kisses 8. Cube 9. The Velocipastor 10. One Cut of the Dead 11. The Ruins 12. Seance 13. The People Under the Stairs 14. From Beyond 15. Starfish 16. Seconds 17. Candyman 18. Tales from the Hood
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Oct 20, 2020 04:22
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 48. The Class (2007/Estonia) This is, to my knowledge, my first Estonian film, but it felt extremely familiar. The film feels like a very-special-episode of Grange Hill, which if you didn't grow up in the '80s/'90s UK, was a very earnest self-serious high school drama, which tackled serious topics like racism, drug use, and bullying. The Class is full-on, start to finish, bullying, and pretty thoroughly explores the topic to its worst excesses. The film creates a fantastically uncomfortable and gut-wrenching atmosphere throughout, allowing the tension to slowly build until the last haunting moments. Most of the events are common enough to the high school experience that many will recognise them from personal experience, but perhaps not to this extent, hopefully not to this extent. It makes me very happy that I'm no longer in school, though of course toxic masculinity extends beyond the school gate, as it does in this film too, demonstrating also the harmful attitudes that can also exist at home. Usually I don't give content warnings, which is probably a failing of mine, but I feel that I should here. The film isn't particularly graphic, but it does deal with some distressing subject matter, such as bullying of course, but also prolonged violent acts, psychological torture, sexual violence, and the finale involves a school-shooting, and multiple children being murdered, which I imagine some people might wish to avoid. I would say that the film handles the topic sensitively, but there's no real sense of relief or solution offered. The issues are simply laid bare and allowed to run their course, with no real interference, which is refreshing to a certain extent. These are not simple issues, so simple solutions are perhaps best avoided. The direction is workmanlike, with some sub-Edgar Wright flourishes. The performances of the young cast are all excellent, and scarily convincing in places. It's a good film. As a brief aside, the film is described on Letterboxd as a drama, and I would completely agree that this is a drama first and foremost. I think it's a good example though of horror as a much broader set of criteria, rather than a neatly designated genre of its own. The combination of the subject matter, how it's presented, the brutal unforgiving tension, and the bloody results, all lead me to call this a horror film, but it's not a Horror film, it's still "just" a drama. 4/5 Total: 48 Queer Interest: 26 Scream Stream: 8 new, 6 rewatches Fran Challenges: 8 | Horror Noire | Short Cuts | Feardotcom | Scream, Queen! | Silent Scream | Tomb of the Blind Spots | Dearly Departed | When Animals Attack | Countries Visited: 20 | USA | Hungary | Portugal | Vietnam | Georgia | Switzerland | Nigeria | United Kingdom | Lithuania | Germany | Finland | France | Spain | Japan | Monaco | Ireland | West Germany | Czechoslovakia | India | Canada | Estonia |
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Oct 20, 2020 05:16
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 Jennifer’s Body (2009) Flawed but fun. I’ve seen it a couple of times, and it’s still an easy watch. Watching with a group of various folk helps, as the underlying story and relationship between the two leads carry the movie, but the dialogue does get a little irritating at times, so there’s much to make fun of. Wrecked on release, this movie is getting a following now, a decade later, and I think it deserves one.  The Gate (1987) A childhood favorite - what happens when you accidentally summon demons with your metalhead friend? An awesome movie, that’s what. It continues to surprise me how much is going on in this movie that *isn’t* necessarily kids-movie stuff. The spooks are real.  eXistenZ (1999) Virtual reality shenanigans, the premillenial zeitgeist. I feel like Cronenberg discovered PKDick’s Ubik and video games all at the same time, and ended up predicting repeating character loops in Skyrim. It wasn’t a bad movie, but I didn’t think it was super compelling either - a movie that continuously asks “is this the real life? Or just fantasy” that didn’t seem to have any stakes. And the ending was just kinda dumb. Jude Law made some choices for delivering dialogue, though. This is the weakest Cronenberg I’ve seen yet. But it does have some body horror moments brimming with sexuality, so still undeniably Cronenberg.  Class Of Nuke’em High (1986) Another scream stream showing. Absolutely bonkers and I loved it. I don’t have a lot of experience with Troma - on one end I’ve seen Troma’s War, and on the other I’ve seen Thankskilling. I feel like this fits in a really happy space in between - not as egregiously offensive as Thankskilling, not as vanilla as Troma’s War, but all the pieces are there. I’ll definitely be looking up some of the sequels!  FRAN CHALLENGE #3: Starfish (2020) This was very cool. At times The Mist, at other times Monsters, this look at grief and self-reproach through a cosmic horror lens looked beautiful. The mix tapes that drive the whole thing are a neat touch and made me think of Avery Alder’s Ribbon Drive game - story telling through a mix of music, even if the content of the mix tapes wasn't super relevant to plot other than that one thing. The pace was slow, but Virginia Gardner never made it boring. 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), 8. Ginger Snaps 2 (2004), 9. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), 10. Scream 2 (1997), 11. Pumpkinhead (1988), 12. Get Duked (2019), 13. Dream Demon (1988), 14. Severance (2006), 15. It Chapter 2 (2019), 16. Dr. Sleep (2019), 17. Deadly Friend (1986), 18. Night Of The Demons (1988), 19. Brides Of Dracula (1960), 20. Djinn (2013), 21. Near Dark (1987), 22. The Wolf Of Snow Hollow (2020), 23. Knife+heart (2018), 24. Jennifer’s Body (2009), 25. The Gate (1987), 26. eXistenZ (1999), 27. Class of Nuke ‘Em High (1986), 28. Starfish (2020) Fran Challenges: #1 Horror Noire - Vampires vs. The Bronx #3 feardotcom - Starfish or eXistenZ, take your pick smitster fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 05:16
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#24: Hell House LLC Okay I needed another found footage horror to wash the taste out. Years after a horrific and still-unexplained disaster at the opening night of a Halloween haunted house left multiple people dead, a documentary crew attempts to reconstruct what happened. They interview one of the surviving members of the staff, who gives them tapes documenting the preparation of the haunt all the way up through opening night. This makes up the bulk of the film, as we see a group of enthusiastic... whatever you call them, haunters, move into an abandoned hotel and rig it up over around a month. Almost immediately, things are not quite right. This really worked for me. The biggest criticism I'd have is it's a little lacking in subtlety, some early scares and moments of foreshadowing are a little over-emphasized and the one character whose main trait is "horny" definitely overplays it, but the filmmakers do a really good job of slowly cranking up the horror. They don't go right for the jump scares, they don't overexplain what's happening, and on the face of it it's just a really good idea to have people being shadowed by strange things in a building they're deliberately filling with strange things. There have been other horror movies set at "haunted houses" and carny funhouses before but none of them take a better advantage of that uncertainty, that "Was that just one of the dummies, or was that... wait was that always there?" They rely a lot on a camera showing one thing, whipping away, then eventually going back to show something's changed, but it doesn't feel unnatural. The buildup's great, and it's helped a lot by early use of a video shot by one of the surviving guests, which doesn't give much away but makes it clear that whatever happened was pretty hosed up. Yeah I don't have much to complain about with this one. It's really spooky and I'm now a little jumpy. I'm not sure if it's the best found footage horror I've seen, I haven't actually seen a lot, but it's very effective.
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Oct 20, 2020 05:52
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18. It's Alive (1974) Killer baby? Must be Larry Cohen! This lacks the go-for-broke insanity of his best works such as Q and The Stuff, but it is a shockingly straight-faced look at the anxieties surrounding parenting. This is anchored by a pretty strong performance by longtime character actor John P. Ryan as the baby's father, who is making an active attempt to decouple his feelings from his offspring after it eats its way through the delivery room, as well as confronting the unstated judgments of the police, media, and public at being the father of a killer. Of course, since it's a Larry Cohen film, he still can't resist gags like the screenshot above or the killer baby attacking a milk truck. While the middle of the film repeats itself a bit, it all leads to a shockingly effective climax that shows both the depths and limitations of parental love. Not my favorite Cohen, but a shockingly thoughtful movie with some real high points. 3.5/5  19. Stuck (2007)   Challenge #7: Dearly DepartedDoes for windshield wipers what Psycho did for showers. I was worried this true-crime black comedy wouldn't count as a horror film, but let's just say I wasn't worried about that by the end. Mena Suvari is beautifully irredeemable as a hit-and-run driver who intend to cover up her crime even though the victim is alive...and still trapped in her windshield. Did I mention this was based on a true story? The high concept is already irresistible, but what really elevates this one is writer/director Stuart Gordon's attentiveness to both the psychology and economic pressures that drive the seemingly unthinkable actions of his characters. Watching Suvari go from freaking out, to blaming her victim, to semi-competently trying to make her problem disappear is a hoot. Meanwhile, Stephen Rea is similarly great as the put upon, semiconscious victim, who gets to display some surprising persistence and ingenuity. This is a tight, funny, oddly plausible seventy-minute long thriller, with a Rube Goldberg finale that is something to behold. RIP Stuart Gordon, he went there. 4/5 
Dr. Puppykicker fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 06:08
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#11) Shorts Fran Challenge #2: Short Cuts My House Walk-through: Really enjoyed this. Sets an eerie mood, and the visuals are great. There's an overwhelming sense of decay and claustrophobia here that helps heighten the tension. youtube.com/watch?v=qWXnt2Z2D1E Don't Look Away: This was ok. I don't think the ending was very fulfilling which I think is important for shorts especially. But it wasn't terrible. Of course all the problems could've been handled had the kids just listened to their father... youtube.com/watch?v=4f3hG-5grlw& Still Life: This was kinda my jam. I thought the ending was good enough, but man the buildup was just creepy as all get out. Almost had a Twilight Zone feel. youtube.com/watch?v=La6T8Bq6CsU The Dollmaker: Another one I liked a lot. I thought despite it's short length it did well with building up a bit of characterization. I could almost see this one expanded to full-length, youtube.com/watch?v=OqSmb3n0j8o The Contraption: I'm not exactly sure this is horror, but it is very dark. It's almost set up like a joke-all buildup to the final punchline where everything comes together. As an aside, I'd like to see other stuff like this, I've always been a fan of short movies but haven't really known where to find them (especially older ones that didn't have an easy distribution method like youtube or other online video services). youtube.com/watch?v=i-PZ4Qy5F0Q The Jigsaw: This was ok. Was a bit predictable which can really hurt these shorts but it was ok. youtube.com/watch?v=gs5zQBBOXrA #12) Feardotcom - Fran Challenge #3: Feardotcom People are dying mysteriously. The only link seems to be a website...an EVIL website. This was pretty mediocre, it's fairly dated with the effects and the story doesn't have enough to really recommend it. You can see the influence of The Ring here, but poorly done. Everything just feels really generic. And it takes itself too seriously to really have much fun with it even as a bad movie watch. 1/5 #13) Frankenstein '80 Man has created a monster...a HORNY monster. This Italian take on the Frankenstein story is filled with gore, boobs, more gore, and more boobs. The monster (Mosaic) is created by Dr. Frankenstein, however he's rejecting his body parts so needs to find new ones. And he's also horny as gently caress. The story's mostly nonsense-there's also a side plot about a serum that's supposed to help stop the monster from rejecting his pieces but it never goes anywhere really. But it's not a bad watch if you're into ultra-sleezy Italian horror. Mosaic does a good job rampaging around the city terrorizing hookers, his creator, and basically anyone who gets in his way. 2.5 / 5 #14) Boar - Fran Challenge #8: When Animals Attack! A giant boar is terrorizing the Australian countryside. That's it, that's the plot. There's some characters and whatnot but they're mostly just around to be wrecked by the boar. It's actually a fairly gory movie, a bit more than I expected. The effects are decent enough, the boar switches back and forth between being practical effects and some pretty average CGI usually when it's actually moving. As an aside, I think this is is actually a pretty good choice for a killer monster, as boars are really nasty. A giant one would be absolutely terrifying. 2.5 / 5 Total: 14 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 / 7. i'm thinking of ending things / 8. The Clovehitch Killer / 9. Ganja and Hess / 10. Trilogy of Terror / 11. Short films / 12. Feardotcom / 13. Frankenstein '80 / 14. Boar alansmithee fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Oct 22, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 06:13
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 23. Black Moon (1975) I’m a simple creature. You give me an impenetrable narrative driven by dream logic and populated by enigmatic characters that's loosely based on Alice in Wonderland, and I’ll give you my mostly undivided attention for one to two hours. Since this is a movie that, according to Louis Malle himself, encourages a personal relationship with the film, I will describe how this movie made me feel rather than provide an in-depth interpretation. Having watching another arthouse Alice in Wonderland adaptation in this very challenge (Svankmajer’s Alice), I could not help but compare the two during my viewing. Both movies provide a sensualist experience. But while Czech Alice was grimy, suffocating and visceral, French Alice is pretty, a little disconnected and, of course, sensual. Its menacing atmosphere is at a simmer rather than at a full boil. As we follow Lilly from strange set piece to strange set piece, we are constantly aware that something unpleasant is lurking around the corner. This is not the kind of nightmare that rouses you from your sleep. Instead, you awaken confused and vaguely unsettled. No one behaves as they ought to, and strange and horrifying things are presented so casually that they almost feel natural. It seems to want to say something about gender, war, communion with nature and communication beyond words. I don’t think I grasp anything too concrete yet. It definitely requires multiple watches if you’re interested in trying to unravel the movie’s narrative framework, but I was very content to just let its oddness wash over me. It's definitely not perfect, but I was sufficiently entertained.
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Oct 20, 2020 07:35
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The Berzerker posted:
I know you've never seen Tremors, but you might first want to rectify the fact that you've never seen Aliens. 
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Oct 20, 2020 08:48
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Five by five is a pretty standard but antiquated two way radio term. I always assumed Whedon was just a short wave radio nerd when he was a kid.
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Oct 20, 2020 09:02
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STAC Goat posted:Five by five is a pretty standard but antiquated two way radio term. I always assumed Whedon was just a short wave radio nerd when he was a kid. Why would you assume that? Buffy is riddled with pop culture references and by the time Whedon did the series he'd already written an Alien movie.
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Oct 20, 2020 09:33
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28. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, for Fran Challenge #5: Silent Scream - I think my favorite part of this was how ready all the asylum guys were to break into their boss' office on the word of some random townie. It's kind of a cool story and a bunch of cool looking sets, and I'm surprised those elements weren't more influential. Sadly it doesn't really have any characters of note and the ending sabotages everything - it's one step short of "it was all a dream," and specifically the dream of a complete nothing of a character who I'm not really interested in understanding or speculating about. And there are some very good reasons while people will still choose to film in black and white, but nobody sets out to make silents anymore. Only worth it for the history, really, since you can get what you need about the sets from stills and probably have a better time. If you do decide to watch it, though, find a source other than Prime - their copy looks like poo poo which definitely hurt the experience. 29. Gonjiam Haunted Asylum - Perfectly adequate found footage, I guess? This subgenre is just so insanely formulaic that I don't know what there is to say about them beyond basic competence y/n. The opening 15-30 minutes is all the character development you're getting so I hope none of them actually strike you as interesting and you don't care about any of the interpersonal dynamics it sets up, because none of it's going anywhere. At least they had a budget. Watch it if you're into this stuff. 30. Zombie Death House, for Fran Challenge #7: Dearly Departed John Saxon - We all know John Saxon, of course, and his passing makes this one of the easiest years to hit this challenge with a great movie you've never seen before - he's been in a ton of stuff including some of the greats and some goofy schlock. As I learned for the sake of this challenge, however, he was also a director! Once. And only once. And it was called Zombie Death House. Who could resist?Honestly, it's better than you'd expect in a reach vastly exceeding grasp kind of way. The first fifteen minutes contain a complete crime drama that gets our hero thrown on death row for a murder he didn't commit. He's secured employment as driver for a local mafia man and started sleeping with his boss' mistress before the credits are finished rolling. So the script might suck (four writers per IMDB), but at least it's tight. Most of the movie is, like, character drama happening in the middle of a combined prison riot/secret military experiment/zombie outbreak filmed with a budget of whatever was hidden in the couch cushions. There are like 2.5 people present who can act at all and none of them are the leads. John plays one of the...three? primary antagonists. There's a lot crammed in here, is what I'm getting at, and while it's not a good movie it holds together remarkably well given everything that's going on and that it was Saxon's directorial debut. There's definitely enough promise that I wish he'd kept at it, and that someone had given him a budget that matched the script.
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Oct 20, 2020 09:45
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Entry #8: Movies 19-21 19. Dance of the Dead (Gregg Bishop, 2008) [DVD, 3rd viewing] I really liked this around the time it came out and was curious to see if that opinion would hold up. It came out in 2008, my memory says that was around the time of zombie comedies becoming extremely common, and while the plot is as simple and as predictable as it could be, there's just enough charm and uniqueness here to make this one enjoyable. It kinda feels a bit like a bloody, high school Goosebumps episode, but it actually has age-appropriate actors and captures the variety of personalities in any high school. The effects are solid, as is the choreography for the action sequences, and there are some creative moments with the characters and zombies. One thing I liked was the movie follows a rather large group of survivors, early on they are split into several groups, and this added a nice bit of variety. Some of the jokes are a little flat, but some of them are actually quite funny. For better or worse, the movie never really gets too serious and overall is a pretty light-hearted zombie comedy worth watching if the idea sounds appealing to you. 3.5/5 Single spoiler thought: A beheaded zombie holding his own severed head to attack owns.  20. The Den (Zachary Donohue, 2013) [DVD, 1st viewing] An interesting concept, and being released in 2013 this was probably one of the first movies to be presented in this style, but the characters and the progression of the plot let me down. I feel like this movie should have been a short, rather than a full feature. The main character is just plain unlikable, but I don't think that's really the intention and it's an awkward result. Her horrible situation and growing paranoia should be enough to get the viewer behind her, but her actions (as well as some of those from the secondary characters) are just unnatural or nasty and made a lot of the emotion feel artificial. And for how well the movie did to present an entire narrative just through phone and computer cameras, at times the situations and convenient angles felt unfeasible. I'm always willing to let that kind of critical attitude go when it comes to horror, but there were just too many situations that were just too conveniently set up and I couldn't suspend disbelief. It's a good setup, but too much was either predictable or felt like movie set pieces. 2/5  21. 964 Pinocchio (Shozin Fukui, 1991) [DVD, 1st viewing] This will definitely be a hit-or-miss movie for anyone who watches it, but I absolutely loved it. It's insanely weird, frantically paced, gross, and just gave me a general sense of discomfort at times as I watched it. The two lead actors never appeared in another movie, which I read was possibly due to director Shozin Fukui self-admittedly being a difficult director to work for, but they both are solid and convincing in their respectively strange roles. Making it even more admirable is the fact that a lot of the scenes are filmed in crowded train stations or bustling streets, and it's both interesting and humorous to see them look and behave so maniacally in front of a reserved and confused Japanese public. Wide angle lenses, quick cuts, dutch angles and other non-traditional shots all give the film its abstract style. I did really enjoy this a ton, it's just so different and other-worldly. Unlike a lot of films that have an avant garde or arthouse style, the story is simple and easy enough to follow. I'd definitely recommend this gross, cyberpunk-themed fever dream to any fans of strange and weird films. 4/5 Number of movies: 21 Number of first-time viewings: 18
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Oct 20, 2020 10:03
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Fran Challenge #8: When Animals Attack! Piranha (1978)  The best known of the Jaws knockoffs. I knew this would be worthwhile when I saw both Joe Dante and Roger Corman's names in the credits. And then Barbara Steele and Dick Miller's names showed up too, what a treat. The premise is simple: the military are weaponizing piranhas. The piranhas get out. There's an adorable stop motion piranha with arms and legs walking about in the lab  The cast are all solid and it's a good looking movie that makes efficient use of its small budget, although I do have a minor complaint that the way the fish attacks are cut gets very repetitive. It's not very bloody, but there's enough to take these fish seriously. The tension is effective and I didn't expect a bunch of little kids to get gobbled up in a 15 rated movie. It's a fun, self-aware B-movie that delivers what it promises. 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; Dave Made a Maze; Gamera the Giant Monster; The Driller Killer; La Llarona; Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street FC#4; Pulse (2001) FC#3; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) FC#5; Hostel FC#6; The Phantom of the Opera (2004) FC#7; Piranha (1978) FC#8 (total: 23ish)
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Oct 20, 2020 10:51
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The Berzerker posted:This is also the only thing I've ever watched where characters said "five by five" besides Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so uh, cool. https://youtu.be/fOZk--oZdQk
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Oct 20, 2020 11:36
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 13. Biozombie (1998) This Hong Kong horror comedy became a quote-along standard in my house about two decades ago, so my love for it includes a pretty heavy dose of nostalgia. It’s about a pair of jerks who accidentally cause a zombie outbreak at the mall where they work and then need to fight their way out. The movie takes a long time to get to the zombie horde, which doesn’t bother me as much as it should thanks to the fun factor of all the darkly ridiculous mall drama. The makeup’s a bit silly (including puffs of baby powder that fluff out of the hair of any zombie that gets hit), but there’s also some decent gore and a couple of genuinely gruesome moments. And considering how goofy most of it is, the main character still has a solid arc. It’s a little hard to find these days, but if anyone stumbles across the DVD somewhere, the english voice actors are better than the DVD subtitles.  14. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Somehow I always forget how good this movie is. It’s helped along by that slow 70s thriller pacing that gives it enough breathing room to set up the situation, and the characters feel natural despite being played by recognizable stars. The movie does a better job than most at giving the sense that these people had goals and histories and messy relationships before the story started. The invasion itself is chillingly realistic, at least in terms of how everyone rejects the idea that something big is happening until it’s too late, and it’s frustrating to watch this group of men downplay Elizabeth’s concerns. On one hand, their doubts are understandable. There’s clearly something strange going on though, and Matthew’s too caught up in his own feelings to actually listen to what she’s saying. Completely apart from the story, there are a ton of interesting little touches here. The shots, the sets, and the lighting all work together to create a defined style, and the world, like the characters, feels lived-in and genuine. And then that ending goes to the only place that really makes sense. 1. Trick ‘r Treat (2007) 2. Threads(1984) 3. The Changeling (1980) 4. Theatre of Blood (1973) 5. The Devil’s Rain (1975) 6. House of the Devil (2009) 7. One Dark Night (1983) 8. Strange Behavior (1981) 9. Challenge #1: Black Box (2020) 9.5. Challenge 2: short films 10. Les Diaboliques (1955) 11. Leviathan (1989) 12. Madman (1981)
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Oct 20, 2020 14:37
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Jedit posted:I know you've never seen Tremors, but you might first want to rectify the fact that you've never seen Aliens. I have seen Aliens like half a dozen times, I guess that line just never stuck in my head.
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Oct 20, 2020 14:43
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21. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Watched On: Shudder Going from a classic that I'd never seen to one that my girlfriend had never seen. I'm pretty sure watching this exacerbated her already existing headache. It's just such a gnarly little movie. Barely any blood (and apparently a lot of the small cuts were actors actually bleeding) but such an oppressive atmosphere, mostly achieved through amazing sound and production design. The first 45 minutes of following a bunch of 70s people around on the road to the next 40 of a nigh-endless cacophony of screaming, laughing and squealing is such an effective whiplash switch. I think the other reason that TCM is so effective is that Leatherface and his family just seem like regular people. There's no one calling them pure evil or any potential supernatural effects, Leatherface is just a barrel-chested guy with good cardio and a willingness to kill people. I'm not sure I'll watch this again after doing it twice for the challenge, but I respect it.
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Oct 20, 2020 15:11
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#22 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Steve Miner, 1998 Blu-ray (owned)  By 1998, slasher formulas had been played out to the point of being self-satirized. After Scream, there really was no going back to the old ways, but it took filmmakers about a decade to realize this. Halloween H20 falls into that horror dead zone of the late 90s wherein we got some of the most watered down, bland, forgettable slashers in history. And those are the exact words I would use to describe this movie. Horror movies work in three ways: They can be really effective/scary, they can be really unique, or they can lean into their genre trappings and go nuts (over the top gore, gratuitous nudity, hilarious kills, etc.). And you know what I'm about to say. H20 does none of these things. It's a lifeless slasher with mostly offscreen kills, a tepid plot, no memorable set pieces, and freaking Josh Hartnett. If that punchable face doesn't shout "don't watch this movie" I don't know what does. 1.5/5 Fran Challenges (5/8): Films watched: 1. Halloween II (2009), 2. The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), 3. Eyeball (1975), 4. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), 5. House of 1000 Corpses (2003), 6. Climax (2018), 7. Lifeforce (1985), 8. The Devil’s Rejects (2005), 9. Short Films, 10. Ginger Snaps (2000), 11. The Legend of Hell House (1973), 12. House on Haunted Hill (1959), 13. Us (2019), 14. The Lighthouse (2019), 15. Torso (1973), 16. Child’s Play 2 (1990), 17. The Masque of the Red Death (1964), 18. The Skin I Live In (2011), 19. Dante’s Inferno (1911), 20. 3 From Hell (2019), 21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), 22. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
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Oct 20, 2020 15:20
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Spook-a-Doodle Double Feature #28: Masters of Horror: Alfred Hitchcock There were a few options I had in mind for both the Silent Film and Blind Spot Fran Challenges but the opportunity to do an easy Hitchcock Double Feature was too much to pass up. Rear Window is truly one of those movies I’m embarrassed to have never seen. I grew up watching Hitchcock Presents on TV so always considered myself a fan of his, but in truth had never really seen his films beyond Psycho. Over the last few years I’ve seen Rebecca, The Birds and Vertigo for the first time but I keep telling myself I have to see Rear Window. The Lodger I’m totally unfamiliar with but its one of a handful of high ranking silent films available to me I haven’t seen and I don’t have to burn a rental on it or anything. And double billing. I know Hitchcock can be a little polarizing as far as “horror vs thriller” goes but Lodger has already been reviewed and Rear Window comes direct off the highest ranking film on the They Shoot Zombies List I haven’t seen. So I’m saying it counts until Fran says otherwise. Either way I’m watching a classic I should have seen by now and finally watching more Hitchcock as I keep meaning to. 48 (55). The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Screenplay by Eliot Stannard, Based on “The Lodger” by Marie Belloc Lowndes. Watched on HBO Max, available on Criterion. Fran Challenge #5: Silent Scream My biggest takeaway is how cinematic the film is shot. A lot of silent films and even early talkies end up feeling shot like stage plays but the really good ones from the best directors feel like what movies became. To no real surprise Hitchcock is one of those guys even in arguably his first directorial run he’s got a real eye for it and imagination of how things can be seen to illicit different responses or set up elements. And its Hitchcock so there’s a few really creative little tricks like the cop seeing his evidence in the footprint of the killer as he processes his suspicions or the family nervously listening to the lodger pace upstairs and shake the chandelier giving way to a transparent ceiling where we watch the lodger pace. None of its award winning but its all little tastes of what’s to come for Hitchcock and film itself, and it really helps the film move along well. I admit I have attention span issues and that handicaps me with silent films. If I’m not being engaged on a couple of different levels I tend to get distracted and want to occupy myself more. And I had some of those problems here but not near as much as I’ve had with some silents. Again, I think its Hitchcock’s cinematography and film style that kept the movie fluid with life. Another thing I noticed is how much he really limited dialogue cards. Its not the first silent film I’ve seen do that but I think it goes a long way to keeping things moving and Hitchcock is a strong enough director and the story a straight enough piece that you can follow things even without the dialogue. And it had me pretty well engaged through the entire second half. There’s some stage overacting and some German Expressionism influences that aren’t my favorite. The cop boyfriend looks a lot like those Conrad Veidt deranged characters and I wasn’t sure how intentional that was or not. Some, I think. Its a Hitchcock film and I think we were supposed to be at least a little weary of that guy. Something was off with him. For the time the twists of the film might have been shocking but I think for a modern audience its all pretty straight forward. What’s probably most interesting story wise is that its really not the story of the serial killer at all, its the story of the Lodger. But that shouldn’t be a surprise since its right there in the name. The question is IS the Lodger the serial killer? Or someone around him? That answer is both surprising and not surprising, I think. Even in small ways Hitchcock was always good at diverting expectations. I wouldn’t call this a must watch or anything, unless you’re doing a comprehensive Hitchcock dive. Its a good film and a good story and certainly historically significant to Hitchcock’s career. Its even his first cameo in a film. He’s got hair and everything. And its probably one of the more accessible silent films I’ve seen to a modern audience. Maybe even a really good bridge into German Expressionism. All told if you’re someone curious about the silent film era but hesitant to dive in I think you can do a lot worse than pick this one as a way to ease in as its got a little bit of the old and a little bit of the new. And in that speaks to Hitchcock’s role in shaping what we know and understand not only to be “thrillers” but film itself. 49 (56). Rear Window (1954) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Screenplay by John Michael Hayes, Based on "It Had to Be Murder" by Cornell Woolrich. Watched on DVD, available on Peacock Premium. Fran Challenge #6: Tomb of the Blind Spots Everyone talks about Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Jimmy Stewart. And yes, he’s great. No one ever talks about Grace Kelly. I think she’s the heart of this film. I think she holds it together and keeps us with it as Jimmy sits creepy, neglectful, and obsessed. She humanizes him, and humanizes the whole ordeal. Slowly getting sucked into the obsession, drunk on the voyeuristic thrill and excited to finally have the attention of a dude who is out of his mind for ignoring Grace Kelly throwing herself at him. There to be his sidekick, his conscience, his link back to sanity, and his confirmation that he’s not insane. And she’s just hopping fences and scaling fire escapes running around like a teenager sleuth in heels and a glamorous summer dress looking like Grace Kelly. Its loving incredible and I was completely unprepared for it. That’s what’s so great about Hitchcock films. Its nearly impossible to not know what his classic films are about through cultural osmosis but even when you do you never really know everything. Hitchcock was so brilliant at diverting expectations and having layers and nuances that I can go in there knowing its a story about Jimmy Stewart stuck in a wheelchair snooping on a possible murderer and still have no idea Grace Kelly is even in the movie let alone this whole huge and wonderful part. Rear Window is a rom com! Its just a great film that lives up to the hype. I don’t think it shocked me or impacted me as much as Psycho or Vertigo but I think it might be the more complete and enjoyable film. There’s so much heart, so much humor, all the required tension, a strong finish, a timeless capturing of the feeling of isolation and boredom and allure of voyeurism and letting your imagination go wild. I think the best part is through the entire film I honestly have no idea if they’re crazy or not. Its all balanced so perfectly that this could all be a disaster or this could all be some great detective work. That scene where Stewart and Kelly doubt themselves and contemplate how ashamed of themselves they should be if they’re wrong is great. The film doesn’t at all feel like 2 hours. It cruises and is just a great watch the whole time. Definitely one I’m gonna revisit and its a joke it took me this long to get here. Letterboxd List
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Oct 20, 2020 16:00
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(19/31) Deep Red (1975) 5/10 Well that's a fun way to start a movie; first kill within the first seconds after the intro.  Nice seventies soundtrack. Great images, nice colors. People don't act real for the most part, and there is no romantic chemistry. Atmospheric but slow. I don't think giallos are for me. Again, music is great and it looks good with some fantastic shots AND has nice kills but it just doesn't grab me. (20/31) Kuroneko (1968) 7/10 Put this on the list after seeing and loving Onibaba by the same director (Kaneto Shindo). And the name means Black Cat. Which is cool, because cats are cool. This time he goes even further back in time to the Heian period (about 800-1200) for a revenge tale. Slower, less scary but more atmospheric in comparison. Funny to see the Rashomon gate again after seeing the Akira Kurosawa movie just a month ago. It has a very nice rhythm to it, supported by the Taiko drums. Nice storytwist in the middle. Good ghost-love-revenge stuff! Tomorrow: The Brood (1979) Watched (31): 1.The Blob (1988) 5/10 || 2.The Mummy (1959) 5/10 || 3.Basket Case (1982) 3/10 || 4.Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) 6/10 || 5.The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) 3/10 || 6.An American Werewolf In London (1981) 5/10 || 7.Onibaba (1964) 7.5 || 8.Re-Animator (1985) 6.5/10 || 9.Horror Of Dracula (1958) 7/10 || 10.The Return of the Living Dead (1985) 7/10 || 11.The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) 2/10 || 12.Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) 5.5/10 || 13.Slither (2006) 6/10 || 14.Creepshow (1982) 2.5/10 || 15.Night Of The Creeps (1986) 5.5/10 || 16.Psycho (1960) 9/10 || 17.This Is the End (2013) 2/10 || 18.The Wicker Man (1973) 5.5/10 || 19.Deep Red (1975) 5/10 || 20.Kuroneko (1968) 7/10 Watched (extra): 1. Child's Play (2019) 6/10
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Oct 20, 2020 16:02
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Boar (2019) A boar attacks people in the Australian outback. Perfect creature feature. Tight runtime, terrifying creature, shows the creature early on. I liked how they switched around the "main characters" to prevent it from getting stale - no characters ever felt safe or like they had plot armor. The practical FX of the boar were top notch. The CGI was lame. The boar is loving insane it just absolutely rips people apart in these gory explosions. I wish they hadn't wasted Bill Moseley but yeah a lot of people have reviewed this one and I agree pretty much with all their sentiments. Enjoyed the hell out of this one, just an all around fantastic well done creature feature and holy poo poo that boar is insane. 9.5/10
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Oct 20, 2020 16:09
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 #107) The Evil (1978) Folks go to a haunted house, get haunted, then surprise! There's some Satan in the mix! A pretty basic haunted house film, but pulled off with enough panache and technical prowess to nail the vibe it's going for. The movie bites off a little more than it can chew, and some of the special effects (particularly the possession indicators) are hokey, but it still satisfied my haunted house tooth. Good performances, good arguments (even if some of the debate points are dusty as heck these days), and the editing helps with selling the supernatural force dominating the house. I'll be revisiting this one, for sure; I just hope I enjoy it as much the next time around. “By the way, where is that piece of holy excrement?” Rating: 7/10Watched on Shudder.  #108) Tail Sting (2001) Scorps on a plane! Yeah. Some genetically modified scorpions are smuggled onto a plane, turbulence sets them free, they start running wild. And then all of a sudden they're the size of Radscorpions, and there are hackers double-fisting ThinkPads, and the characters won't stop flapping their jaws about their backstories, etc. Enough of the jokes landed to make me smile, but this was a tedious trip. My favorite characters were the first ones to get killed off, plot progress is extremely slow, and a lot of time is spent on poo poo that doesn't matter in the slightest, neither to story purposes nor character development. If this had a half hour trimmed off, it could be fun, but as is, it's a slog and a half. “They weren't giant scorpions when we put them on the plane!” Rating: 4/10Watched on Tubi.  #109) Glass Trap (2005) Ants in a building! Yes, some man-eating ants hitch a ride on some garden center plants being delivered to an office building in downtown L.A., then somehow grow to the size of small dogs and start chirping up a storm as they attack the dozen or so people in the building. The jokes were steadier than in Tail Sting, there was ridiculous hacking on display, someone got clocked over the head with a wooden duck, a janitor was the main sex appeal person, and hard rock music is used to repel the ants at one point. They squeeze in a fair amount of 'building escape' staples, too, from the stuck elevator, to elevator shaft climbing, to traveling through gigantic ventilation systems. Fun for a goof, but with enough little stumbles and dull minutes to keep it from being a full-on trashy hoot. “I hope my next assistant knows the difference between hot or not.” Rating: 5/10Watched on Tubi.
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Oct 20, 2020 16:46
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DjLando posted:I don't think giallos are for me. Again, music is great and it looks good with some fantastic shots AND has nice kills but it just doesn't grab me. The music, aesthetics, and kills are pretty much the main reasons people like giallos (myself included!) so if those aren't enough to sway you then yeah they probably just aren't your bag. They are very much style over substance. If you're getting any enjoyment out of them I would still recommend checking out Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace though, it's a classic and was hugely influential.
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Oct 20, 2020 16:51
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Kvlt! posted:Boar (2019) This is true but I also liked the drunk old men way more than the other characters and would've been happy if they were the focus throughout the whole film. And yeah the boar effects are 5/5 even if I didn't love some other stuff about it.
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Oct 20, 2020 16:54
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#56: 1976 King Kong Alright, my first movie of this challenge that is over two hours long. It wasn't worth it. First off, the positives: Dwan is very hot. The Kong suit looks great. The subway loving up scene is great. Now that's out of the way, it's not good. Not only is it way longer than the original, it also has a lot less stuff in it! In 33 King Kong once Kong shows up it's balls to the wall action almost all the way through. Here, there's one very underwhelming struggle with a snake and a less impressive remake of the tree on a cliff scene, and that is it for action on the island. No dinosaurs, no giant lizards, nothing like that. Instead, we get a lot of footage of King Kong groping Dwan. And the movie makes it weirdly sexual, there's multiple lines about King Kong marrying or loving Dwan. It's weird. It was a weird choice. In the original, Jack was misogynist rear end in a top hat. Here, they way over compensate and turn him into someone who is always right about everything, and he's also a badass. He stows away on the ship even though that has no effect on the plot, it's just to establish that he's cool and breaks the rules. They also turn up Dwan. She's not just an aspiring actress, she's the ditziest broad in the whole world. She named herself Dwan. It's the 70s, they could have made her part of the ship's crew, she could've been the big businessman's secretary, a colleague of Jack, but no. She's in this movie because she was on a yacht on her way to shoot a porno but then the yacht exploded and she was on the only life raft. One thing that was neat was seeing how much Kong Skull Island took from this movie. The 70s setting, the slideshow on the boat, using explosive charges to do a geographical survey, that's all from here. Of course Kong Skull Island is a much better movie and uses all that stuff to much better effect. I don't recommend Kong Kong. 56 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 Monsters, Godzilla Raids Again, Five Short Films About Bigfoot2, Abbot and Costello Meet The Mummy, Horror of Dracula, Psycho, King Kong vs Godzilla, Blood Feast, Mothra vs Godzilla, The Creeping Terror, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster, Orgy of the Dead, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Ghidorah Horror of the Deep, Berserk!, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, All Monsters Attack, Taste The Blood of Dracula, Godzilla vs Hedorah, Nosferatu5, Feardotcom3, Godzilla vs Gigan, Dracula AD 1972, Godzilla vs Megalon, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, The UFO Incident, Terror of Mechagodzilla, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, King Kong
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Oct 20, 2020 17:02
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35. Zotz (1962) A very silly and charming picture. No real Castle intro on this one, though he makes a quick appearance. The plot is just so absurd and the lead is a massive goofball. You don't get a comedy/horror/espionage movie too often so the plot is a kind of a treat if you want to see that combination. It's not the best Castle movie, but there's fun gags sprinkled throughout it and I really enjoyed the lead. 2.5/5
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Oct 20, 2020 17:12
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 49. Erotic Ghost Story (1990/Hong Kong) "Three vixens have meditated for 1,000 years to able to shed their animal natures and become human. For the final month of their rigors, they have moved near a village where women pray to a god of fertility. One sister visits the god’s temple and thinks lustful thoughts. As she leaves, a priest confronts her, warning of dire consequences and of demons that will try to stop the vixens’ transformation."  Erotic Ghost Story is a softcore film from the director of Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, and it's every bit as amazing as that sounds. The plot exists. It feels like an episode of Saiyuki, but with the events mainly just serving as a medium to get to the boobs, action, and gore, and in those departments the film does not disappoint.  This is a softcore film, and I mean that in the most literal sense. There is constant titillation, and constant nudity of both genders, though of course it favours one over the other. There is simulated sex and dry humping, close-ups of genitalia, and frequent, frequent baths in which no-one gets clean. I want to say there are four sex scenes, but I wasn't exactly counting. I say all this not as a reason to go out and watch it, but just so you're prepared. Despite how fun this film is, group watches might become weird, whether that's a positive or a negative for you I won't judge. In fact, if you want a film about a well-ish functioning polycule, look no further.  The real meat are the SFX, wirework, and costuming. All of which are perhaps not the most flashy, or expensive, or best-looking examples in cinematic history, but each is used excellently and to triumphant effect. The film isn't quite the same blood-soaked affair as Riki-Oh, but it left me feeling like a giddy excitable child from start to finish. There's even a version of the Witches of Eastwick fruit scene, which is perhaps one of my favourite things ever committed to screen. Very highly recommended.  4.5/5 Total: 49 Queer Interest: 27 Scream Stream: 8 new, 6 rewatches Fran Challenges: 8 | Horror Noire | Short Cuts | Feardotcom | Scream, Queen! | Silent Scream | Tomb of the Blind Spots | Dearly Departed | When Animals Attack | Countries Visited: 21 | USA | Hungary | Portugal | Vietnam | Georgia | Switzerland | Nigeria | United Kingdom | Lithuania | Germany | Finland | France | Spain | Japan | Monaco | Ireland | West Germany | Czechoslovakia | India | Canada | Estonia | Hong Kong |
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Oct 20, 2020 17:52
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I wish there was a film called King Kong for Christmas, with Santa-Kong slam-dunking presents through unsuspecting roofs.
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Oct 20, 2020 18:05
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deety posted:
I have really fond memories of this movie as well. I wish there was a copy with decent subtitles, the ones on the DVD truly are like they ran the script through a poor translation program really quickly. I have this DVD sitting around. I had no idea it was so insanely priced now, the quality is like something they'd have sold in the VCD store in the movie. Orchestrated Mess fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 18:23
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 #110) Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952) Bela Lugosi gets dropped into the shtick of an established character, the old biddy Mother Riley (played by Arthur Lucan). Energetic performances can't salvage the stale comedy, and Lugosi is clearly unenthused, being saddled with some nonsense about his character planning a robot takeover of the world. And after a car chase to the boat he's on, handling guns with a look of bafflement, the movie slams to a sudden stop. If you're in the mood for a holdout of '40s formula comedies, or you're compelled to be a Lugosi completionist, this might do the trick for you, but otherwise, you can give this a pass without missing anything of value. “I intend to build an army of 50,000 robots!” Rating: 5/10Watched on Tubi.  #111) Bats: Human Harvest (2007) Hey, let's weld some killer bats into a weak soldier drama/action swing. American soldiers are in Chechnya to rescue a researcher, with Russians and locals also in the region. But then the genetically-modified bats attack. And things get drawn out for an hour and change. Probably the dullest killer bat(s) movie I've seen. I like the first Bats, and a big part of that is down to its use of humor. Here, the humor, action, and attempts at tension are all stiff and stilted. The film-makers were able to get hold of a good amount of props and vehicles, and that's the best thing I have to say about this. It's shot competently enough, though there are some weird lighting issues in a few of the outdoor scenes (maybe resulting from trying to make things look gloomy and ominous). Good luck caring about any of the characters, though. “Is that Yankee Doodle Dandy enough for you, Colonel?” Rating: 4/10Watched on Crackle.
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Oct 20, 2020 18:36
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 #29. Arachnophobia (DVD) A recently discovered, highly poisonous species of South American spider hitches a ride to a small town in California, where it begins breeding deadly hybrids that start to overtake the populace. Well, my last review was for The Wasp Woman, so I felt like I needed to give the "killer bugs" subgenre another chance to redeem itself. Fortunately, this one knocked it out of the park, so congrats, bugs, you're still fun and scary. Well, bugs may be scary, but this movie isn't, by design. It's more roller coaster ride than movie, aiming for fun spectacle more than spooks and frights. Even when it goes for high concept fake out scares, it tends to keep undercutting itself for a laugh. It operates in that weird 90s style where everyone and everything is so snarky and deadpan and just over genre trappings that it can't take itself seriously. The movie was already tongue-in-cheek throughout, but John Goodman's character shows up and supercharges that whole attitude. It does make things play out a little oddly - the film delights in having spiders appear wherever they can, no matter illogical, and it delights in Jeff Daniels' disgust and defeatism in dealing with other humans. But it never treats Daniels' titular arachnophobia as a joke; if anything, it seems to be going about trying to validate that as a sensible response to spiders, in general. At a bit under 2 hours, this was a tad overlong and padded. There was a lot more small town politics than probably needed to be there, especially since most of the characters end up being barely sketched cannon fodder anyway. Still, it was a lot of fun, and that ends up overriding most of my criticisms here.  /5Watched so far: The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Rabid (1977), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Blacula, Night of the Demons (1988), The Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Mummy (1959), Over Your Dead Body, Halloween 4, Frankenstein (1931), The Ice Cream Man, multiple shorts and specials, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Blood Quantum, The Hideous Sun Demon, The Raven (1935), Final Destination 2, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man (2020), Countdown, Nosferatu (1922), Boar, Diabolique (1955), Bit, Friday the 13th Part IV, Needful Things, The Wasp Woman (1959), Arachnophobia
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Oct 20, 2020 18:42
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 18. Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987) dir. Sam Raimi (Rewatch with We Hate Movies Commentary) I the Spring Bracketology I pushed really hard against Evil Dead. I rewatched the original with my wife earlier in the year, and she was desperately bored with it, and it's not the first time I've had that experience with someone. It's impossible for me to not experience some nostalgia with it, but it's a very messy film with a few unfortunate choices. I wanted to try watching 2 with her, but she's obviously not enthusiastic about it. BUT MAN, Evil Dead II is such a good movie. Twice in Rami's career, he's gone to a sequel really synthesizing everything that was good about the first film and then refining it into something bordering on perfection. There's no Toby to bring down Evil Dead though, all Bruce. I think Bruce's manic energy and willingness to see his character humiliated really makes it one of the greatest uses of Lovecraftian ideas. Ash's manic laughter and dancing along with the possessed furniture is so perfect because it feels like REAL madness. The We Hate Movies Commentary was fun, but I just want to rewatch without it ASAP. /5
Timeless Appeal fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Oct 22, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 19:44
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Fran Challenge #6: Tomb of the Blind Spots #57: 1981 An American Werewold in London  This movie is a lot of firsts in my Challenge. My first movie from the swinging 80s. The first movie featuring licensed pop music. That was a loving surprise by the way, after 56 movies this month I'd forgotten movies could do that. First movie to feature on-screen penis. And the first movie to feature practical effects that still hold up. Like, no shame on the old ones, but you have to add "for the time" when you appreciate the transformation from the old Wolf Man. The transformation here still looks great by modern standards. They did have a bit of trouble making the full werewolf puppet move convincingly though. This is just straight up a remake of The Wolf Man. A lovable American doofus shows up in Britain, gets attacked by a werewolf, is all like, oh no am I gonna be a werewolf while his friends are like no don't be silly, and so on. It's the same story but with an extra dash of humor and modern sarcastic sensibility, and it's a great update. I heartily recommend An American Werewolf in London 57 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 Monsters, Godzilla Raids Again, Five Short Films About Bigfoot2, Abbot and Costello Meet The Mummy, Horror of Dracula, Psycho, King Kong vs Godzilla, Blood Feast, Mothra vs Godzilla, The Creeping Terror, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster, Orgy of the Dead, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Ghidorah Horror of the Deep, Berserk!, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, All Monsters Attack, Taste The Blood of Dracula, Godzilla vs Hedorah, Nosferatu5, Feardotcom3, Godzilla vs Gigan, Dracula AD 1972, Godzilla vs Megalon, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, The UFO Incident, Terror of Mechagodzilla, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, King Kong, An American Werewolf in London 6
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Oct 20, 2020 20:03
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Franchescanado posted:19. Friday the 13th Part III I also don't think part 3 is particularly good, which makes sense since it was a completely phoned in and rushed sequel by the director of 2, and its lack of creativity sort of locked us in for what a Jason movie "should" be. Which is why it remains completely baffling that it's the favorite of the makers of the Friday the 13th game, to the point that Part 3 Jason is on the box and title screen. These are guys who went out of their way to get Kane Hodder, Tom Savini Thom Mathews and Harry Manfredi involved, and who love the franchise so much they put in tons of easter eggs, references and even recorded some tapes of Pamela and Tommy Jarvis that try to make sense of the series' convoluted timeline and lore. And THAT's their favorite Jason??? DjLando posted:(19/31) Deep Red (1975) 5/10 You watched the bad cut, didn't you.
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Oct 20, 2020 20:07
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Fran Challenge #9: TerrorVision The film must be new to you.  Watch a made-for-TV movie Streaming originals (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc) don't count. Masters of Horror / Fear Itself episodes don't count. The film still needs to be a minimum 60 minutes long. or Watch TerrorVision if you've never seen it.
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Oct 20, 2020 20:28
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Fran Challenge #10: Run This poo poo Into The Ground suggested by both Dr. Puppykicker (who said 3rd entry), Class3KillStorm (who also suggested t 3rd entry) and Basebf555 (who suggested the 4th entry) Watch the 3rd+ entry to a franchise The film must be new to you. Universal Monster and Hammer Horror films can qualify, just make sure it's at least the 3rd movie (by release date) featuring the character Darthemed posted:Do reboots (like the '95 Piranha) count, or does it need to be a continuous line? Continuous line. Although I'll say that unofficial sequels do count. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Oct 20, 2020 |
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Oct 20, 2020 20:35
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