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#55. Pandorum (2009) In the far future, on a spaceship meant to act as an ark to deliver people and other life from Earth to the only other planet found with similar conditions at the time, two members of the flight crew revive from cryosleep with temporary memory loss. They find the spaceship mostly off-line, and seemingly abandoned. When the younger crew member attempts to find a way to restore power, he finds that not only are they not alone on the ship, but that there are also many creatures that fully intend to treat him as a meal. The title of the film is the name of a condition of space madness that is always a risk for those on such a trip. I was recommended this film with the idea that it's basically Event Horizon without the Hellraiser type elements. Watching it, I can see how that opinion was reached. It's not a bad film either, with a very rich and claustrophobic set, and a general malaise of mistrust settling over everything. If I had to complain, it would be that it takes far too long to do what it sets out to accomplish at over 2 hours running time. It could have stood to have a better editor. As much as it's a horror movie along the lines of Aliens, I'd also put it in the post apocalyptic survival genre alongside things like Escape From New York or The Road Warrior. It's an interesting and unique piece regardless.  /5
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Oct 30, 2015 19:04
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Day 30 - Uzumaki Uzumaki is based on the manga of the same name from Junji Ito. It has been pretty heavily changed so as to be a coherent single story rather than a string of individual events. The manga wasn’t finished when it came out so it only had references to the stories that had been written when it was made. I love when a story takes something completely innocuous and turns it into a horror object, so the idea of making an entire movie about how spirals are evil definitely got my interest. The movie was even good enough to make me go read the books. Full Review 4 out of 5
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Oct 30, 2015 20:04
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#56. Argento's Dracula (2012) We all know Dracula by now. This plays with the story a little bit. Johnathon Harker moves to Transylvania after his good friend Lucy lands him a job with the local Count (three guesses as to his name) as his librarian (he has a LOT of books). Harker's wife Mina is delayed but on route. By the time she gets in town, Johnathon's a blood-flavored Capri Sun for Mr D. Then he starts going after Lucy too, biting her on the back of her knee to avoid suspicion as the town is totally in on his act, having made a pact that he'd stay out of the town proper and they wouldn't come after him. This clearly isn't working out. Then Mina hires Dr. Van Helsing to come stop Draco right as he steps up his seduction game on her. Dracula's a pretty good PUA because he gets her under his spell right away, and now it's up to Van Helsing to save the day. This was...Okay. It's definitely not Dario Argento's best. Much of it feels flat. Probably because it was originally meant for 3D, which neither Netflix nor my TV are. It's definitely a pretty film, as Argento IS the master of the camera, and it's nice to see Rutger Hauer getting work (he plays the good doctor as a total badass.) Also, I think this is the first Argento movie I've seen where his daughter Asia gets killed off in it. Also, because he makes me uncomfortable, there is lots of sexy scenes with her too. One scene to definitely watch for is when Dracula goes berserk and just starts literally punching dudes heads off. It's great. .5/5Also, I did a thing while watching it!  
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Oct 30, 2015 23:40
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Basebf555 posted:38. The Fog I'm with you on this, and have always been scared to admit it here. I loving love the fog, even though I was something like 25 the first time I saw it. Maybe it's because it's basically John Carpenter's Garfield Saves Halloween. It also has to have the softest 'R' rating I've ever seen, I'm pretty strict with what my 8 year old watches, but I'm tempted to let her watch this
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Oct 31, 2015 00:01
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Dr.Caligari posted:I'm with you on this, and have always been scared to admit it here. I loving love the fog, even though I was something like 25 the first time I saw it. Maybe it's because it's basically John Carpenter's Garfield Saves Halloween. It also has to have the softest 'R' rating I've ever seen, I'm pretty strict with what my 8 year old watches, but I'm tempted to let her watch this The scary old man from Garfield Saves Halloween gave me more nightmares than any horror movie.
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Oct 31, 2015 00:38
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#57 Malèfique (2002) Carrère has been sentenced to jail for the fraud his company committed. His cell-mates are Marcus, the bull of the cell and a mid-transition transgendered woman, Marcus' mentally challenged sidekick/lover/whatever Paquarette, and the quiet older brains of the unit, Lasalle. They quickly learn to respect each other (as otherwise there'd be chaos), while Carrère is convinced he will soon escape. One day a hole breaks open in the wall next to his bunk, revealing the diary of a man who was in the cell in the 20s and was a renowned serial killer and occultist. Inside the diary are myriad magickal spells that truly work, and soon, Carrère is convinced they can use the book to escape due to the final passage speaking of a way between the walls. However, not all doors are exits, but all pathways require a price... I was looking for something to scratch that metaphysical/torment of man itch that Hellraiser often leaves in me. This movie sure fit the bill. There's not many movies out there that I would put in the same wheelhouse, regardless of topic to the series. There's a few I've seen out there, like for example Event Horizon, or more obscure, Necromentia. This fits right in the niche too. There's no demons, but there's plenty of sin and guilt, and prices paid through lower methods. I liked it a lot. It's probably not for everyone (especially since it's not in English, but French) but it was just what I was looking for tonight. /5
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Oct 31, 2015 01:28
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#137.Waxwork (1988). A bunch of college students are invited to a waxwork where if they enter a display they get transported to a dimension based on the waxwork. If they die, they become part of it. This was pretty meta before meta was really a thing. It's a really good watch, and it's quite fun. There are lots of fun kills, they have a great lead cast, and it's just self-aware enough to be funny without being obnoxious. My biggest complaint is all the waxwork stories are standard fare: werewolves, vampires, mummies, etc. The displays were awesome and I would have liked to see some of those play out. #138.Event Horizon (1994). A ship goes on a rescue mission to a ship that disappeared. It turns out that things aren't right with the ship anymore. This is a haunted house movie in space. It's pretty dark and demented. Apparently a lot of the movie was cut to it being disturbing, which I really want to see. #139.A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Teenagers are stalled by a man who kills them in their dreams. An atypical slasher, A Nightmare on Elm street is still really good. Originally to have an ending where all of it was a dream, New Line scrapped that after they saw the potential in a franchise. This really didn't hurt the move. It's fun and creepy. #140.Inferno (1980). A sort of sequel to Suspiria, Inferno follows man searching for his sister at a New York apt building. I enjoy this just as much as Suspiria. At times it feels a little more focused, which I think helps it in the long run and helps give a different feel than Suspiria. This time around Keith Emerson did the soundtrack and it's amazing. #141.Possession (1981). A man comes home from a work trip to find his wife wants a divorce. Things are far more complicated. Lurdiak put it best when he said that someone could easily make a case for being the best horror movie. Every shot is beautiful, it's strange and surreal, and the soundtrack is great. #142.Night of the Demons (1988). A group of teenagers go to an abandoned funeral parlor to die and get possess by demons. I watch this several times a year and it's always a blast. There are so many one liners that still make me laugh. It's a no frills 80's horror flick. You get boobs, blood, and blow jobs.
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Oct 31, 2015 07:00
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Welp, I can't sleep, so I might as well rank all the new movies I saw while hosting the Scream Stream. Mild spoilers in some of these. Slither This movie pissed me off, plain and simple. I guess the main issue I had with it is it seemed to think it was a comedy, but never actually did anything funny. It just was so annoying. Some good body horror and impressive practical effects, but I didn't really enjoy anything about the experience. The Lords of Salem I didn't get this movie. Specifically what emotions it was going for at any given time. It felt dull and lifeless despite all the crazy imagery. The two central characters (kind of?) are the least engaging in the whole movie. At least I can say this movie has plenty of shots that can stick with you. Tucker and Dale vs Evil One of them deconstructive horror comedies. I really enjoyed this one, mostly due to Tucker and Dale's interactions and goofy personalities, as well as the various scenes of them hilariously looking like crazy redneck killers to the teens. I wasn't overly fond of the teens themselves, which I guess is part of the point, but doesn't make their scenes any better. I also felt like this movie could've worked without the "comedic" deaths. A thumbs up, for sure, but I probably won't be rewatching it anytime soon. Let the Right One In Wow. What a beautiful film. Uncomfortable, touching, angsty, sad, cheerful, funny, and most of all visually striking. Very human characters in a setting that seems almost surreal in its oppressive banality. This is an amazing film, and while it features a lot of hosed up poo poo, much of it shown on-camera, it treats it in a way that doesn't feel exploitative, but rather mature and restrained. Amazing cinematography, too. This movie will make you feel things. Cabin in the Woods Another deconstructive horror-comedy movie, it ultimately says very little and is not very funny. I wanted to punch this movie in the face a lot. I was especially annoyed by the brief scenes showing a Japanese style horror film that had cliches about asian cinema right out of the early 90s. It sure has a lot of references to much better films, though. 30 Days of Night I could barely tell what was going on in this movie. So much shaky cam, so much desaturation. Not much plot. The special effects got comically bad near the end. Very forgettable. The Babadook loving amazing movie, very personal, very creatively shot, it's structured in a relatively normal horror format but everything from the casting to the effects to the setting and down to the camera movements feels very non-traditional and inventive. Great ending, you really connect with the struggles of the main characters. Dead Snow 2 Hilarious, gory, violent, sometimes creepy, fun. The comparisons to Evil Dead 2, both in reviews an in the film itself, are on-point. Ironically, the selling point of this movie, soviet zombies fighting nazi zombies, is the least visually exciting part of the film. Coraline I really loved this movie, I think it's easily my favorite new film this year. It's charming in every way, feels like a fairy tale, and reminds me of a lot of children's horror type stuff I watched as a child while having its own identity. Coraline is a very relatable and fun character, the puppet visuals of the film are downright beautiful, and the whole thing bursts with imagination and creepiness. If I had kids, I'd love to show them this film, even if it does feature an old woman with huge tits walking around with almost no clothes on for a couple of minutes. The Descent Oh boy. The editing and color temperature in this film are horrid. What feels like it might've been a compelling story about a group of women getting trapped in a cave system and losing their minds loses all momentum when a bunch of shrieking slimy mole people show up and jump all over the place while the camera goes nuts. I guess you have to give it props for being a horror movie that stars only women and barely sexualizes any of them. Although I could barely tell some of the characters apart due to the mumbling dialogue and bad lighting/editing. Really overrated film. Bug Great, uncomfortable movie that feels like it goes by in a flash. Maybe not quite horror, but I still greatly enjoyed it. The intensity of the movie ramps up incredibly fast once the creepiness gets going, and there's a lot of fun stuff in the sound design. Can be seen as a very depressing or darkly funny movie depending how you approach it. The Conjuring This movie is lifeless, utterly fails at being a period piece, looks like it got its props from the set of Goosebumps, and just generally blows. Putting aside the glorification of real life con artists, this just isn't an interesting film in any way and it confirms my prejudices about all those haunting/possession movies that Hollywood keeps cranking out since this one's cited as one of the better ones. You're Next This movie's a weird one. Combining a slasher movie with a home invasion movie is interesting, but then the movie keeps taking these turns from really gruesome gut-wrenching drama/horror to near-slapstick comedy and "badass" moments. It's also got a very hyperactive camera during scenes where nothing is happening at all, which conflicts with the tone of boring dreadfulness it seems to be going for in those scenes. The movie also essentially only has two real characters. Mixed bag, but the score and fun action make it a thumbs up for me, although again, I probably won't be rewatching it. I guess I really don't enjoy slashers movies "with a twist". The Exorcism of Emily Rose gently caress this movie. It's 2 hours of brown nothing. It Follows For a movie that essentially is about teens being murdered because they have sex, it's certainly not the kind of movie you'd expect. Although sexuality is a core theme of the movie, there's very little sexualization of the characters in this film. And every time there is, it's communicated in the context of another character looking at them in a sexual way. The stalking scenes are genuinely intense and the concept is really creepy. The entire cast is well realized and likeable, and this isn't the kind of movie where you'll cheer for anyone to get killed (with a couple exceptions). Really nice sweeping 360 shots and really unique score, well done tonal shifts. This movie deserves its reputation as one of the best recent horror films. Excision Another movie that some might not call horror. Creepy, saccharine, funny, and sad. This feels kind of like Daria meets Salad Fingers at times. Really strong performances, especially by the lead. This movie is more of a series of moments in a character's life rather than an unfolding plot, and I liked being along for the ride. I appreciate how off-putting AnnaLynne McCord manages to be with her body language and makeup despite being a knockout in real life. Watrick posted:#141.Possession (1981). A man comes home from a work trip to find his wife wants a divorce. Things are far more complicated. Possession rules. I simultaneously have so few words to describe the movie adequately and yet could talk about it for ages. Also, you're seriously gonna hit 150, aren't ya?
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Oct 31, 2015 10:51
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36. Suspiria - An American heads to Germany to join a ballet school. Mysteries are afoot. Deeply lurid film, really pretty fantastic. Beautiful movie, great soundtrack. (5/5) 37. The Fog - "There's no fog bank out there.....hey there's a fog bank out there." One hundred years ago, folks in this seaside town committed murder. Now the fog will get revenge. Better than I expected it to be, with more of a physical villain than the title suggests. (4/5) 38. 100 Bloody Acres - Festival goers stumble upon a fertilizer salesman who has some big plans for future expansion. This was an unexpected surprise. Good build-up, good humor, fun effects. The guy who plays Dewey Crow from Justified is just a joy to watch screw up. (4/5) 39. Burnt Offerings - A family gets a deal renting a house for the summer. OR DO THEY Kind of an interesting spin on the haunted house, though I didn't really feel like all of the character motivations made a lot of sense. Also I thought that there was a lot of buildup for not a lot of payoff. (2/5) 40. The Houses October Built - A group of thrill-seekers head cross-country on a haunted house tour, in search of a secretive one that takes it to the next level. Real dumb, kind of fun. The basic idea, of haunted house ghoulies taking it outside the house, is very cool. It devolves into shaky-cam nonsense every time they tour a haunted house, which is far too often for shaky-cam nonsense. (1.5/5) 41. Bone Tomahawk - A small group of men set off on a rescue mission against a tribe of cannibalistic Indians. It's a slow, methodical movie that felt very empty. Not a scary movie, but gory, and the gore is pretty incredible. As a genre mashup it didn't really work for me. (2.5/5) 42. Asylum Blackout - The cooks get trapped in an asylum during a power outage. Pretty disturbing, but at the same time not very good. The characters are poorly defined and basically all the same. The asylum felt like less of a place, and more of a disconnected series of rooms. The "twist" is pretty dumb, too. Still, it was pretty scary. (2/5)
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Oct 31, 2015 14:11
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Big post, sorry I didn't get round to posting these as I watched them. 1. V/H/S 4/5 2. V/H/S 2 5/5 3. V/H/S Viral 2/5 4. The Descent 4/5 5. The Descent Part II 1/5 6. Insidious Part III 2/5 7. The Exorcist 5/5 8. Theatre of Blood 4/5 9. Until Dawn 5/5 10. The Evil Dead (1981) 5/5 11. Evil Dead (2013) 2/5 12. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn While this really is a great movie, it just doesn't appeal to me as much as the first one. It's deliberately (I think) more of a horror-comedy and revels in its slapstick silliness. The deadites are much goofier looking than before, and a great deal of the movie involves Bruce Campbell pratfalling and smashing his face into things (or smashing things into his face). There's even a Looney Tunes-type tweeting birds sound effect as Ash rolls his eyes and head around after repeated blows. It is really goddamn funny, just don't go in expecting the unpleasantness of its predecessor. 4/5. 13. Poltergeist (2015) Another remake that was pretty drat unnecessary. I can't really remember anything special about it. Some of the 3D effects were pretty cool, I guess? I liked the visualisation of what the 'other side' looked like, with the drone flying through it, which was creepy as hell, and I kinda liked Sam Rockwell's character as I felt he was fleshed out a bit more than the dad in the original. But overall rather boring, and the 'scientific' angle from Jane Adams' character was bad compared to Zelda Rubinstein in the original. 2/5. 14. The Blair Witch Project Arguably the film that kickstarted the found footage horror genre (sure, it had been done before, but this one turned it into a whole genre), I absolutely love this movie; it's basically an hour and a half of people that clearly don't like each other very much – apparently at one point the producer had to step in and tell the guys to stop being quite so dickish to Heather – which some people find unwatchable but it really reminds me of amateur projects I've worked on: you kinda know one another, think it'll be fun to work together and soon realise that your ideas are so wildly incompatible it descends into pointless bickering and nothing ever gets done. I enjoy that you never even see what it is they're so afraid of (since it was generally just the crew loving with them off-camera) and that they all look so very tired when everything starts going wrong. Still one of the most effective endings in any horror movie I've ever seen; it still creeps me the gently caress out after all these years. 5/5. 15. Triangle The protagonists find themselves stranded on a spooky, abandoned ship after a freak storm destroys their boat, only to find themselves being hunted by something that was already on board. Lots of references to The Shining in here, with geometry that doesn't always quite make sense, making the whole thing feel 'off' and uncomfortable. Really cool twists and turns throughout kept me interested all the way through, and some absolutely horrifying scenes like the deck where one of the girls always crawls off to in order to die each time she is killed, creating a room piled high with clones of herself being feasted upon by seagulls. And a huge twist comes later, making the whole experience even more unnerving. Really enjoyed this one. 4/5. 16. You're Next A great response to home-invasion movies, this one has the great premise where one of the victims is actually very competent at defending herself rather than just being a quivering wreck. Lots of gore and fun keeps this going, even if the big reveal was super obvious to anybody even slightly paying attention. Couldn't give a drat about any of the characters outside of the main protagonist, though, but that kinda makes it more fun to see them get annihilated. 3/5. 17. Pet Sematary Not sure how I've gone my whole life without seeing this one, and I finally get the joke with the creepy old guy with the weird accent that shows up a couple of times in South Park. Some seriously unpleasant stuff here, and somehow they managed to get cats on film that actually did what they were meant to a lot of the time (I think they used a whole bunch of very similar looking cats), so there's not as many horribly fake looking puppet animals as I expected going into this. The plot suffers from incredibly-stupid-horror-movie-protagonist syndrome, though mitigated by the father's grief. The ruined, mouldy vision of the neighbour's house was great, and I wished that had been used a bit more. Pretty good overall. 3/5. 18. Martyrs Holy gently caress. What did I just watch? I can't even talk about this much. But you should watch it, provided you have a high tolerance for basically every disturbing thing you can think of. 5/5. 19. It Follows This is one of the best horror films I've watched in years. It's very unsettling, and just the ever-present 'It' stalking the main character, always changing into something else and moving slowly in her direction was enough to creep me out, but watching her break down and struggle with the decision of whether or not to pass it on pushed it into properly scary territory. I love the way everything is shot dead-centre frame, so it always feels like 'It' is coming right for you. And there's one really good jump scare that got me big-time. I can't figure out when this is supposed to be set. It looks like it's meant to maybe in the 80s, but one girl has that weird clamshell e-reader device that looks much more modern, which makes everything feel kinda timeless, like it could be happening to anyone, anywhere, at any moment. Really effective. 5/5 20. The Exorcist III This is a classic case of studio interference spoiling what could've been a top-notch horror movie. After the complete disaster that is The Exorcist II: Heretic, which shits all over the original, this one shifts the focus to Father Dyer, the friend of Karras from the original, and Lt. Kinderman, the detective that was investigating Burke's murder in the first movie. Confusingly, Kinderman refers to Karras as being his best friend, which is weird because in the movie they spend all of five minutes on screen together (the books flesh this out more). Originally this was to be titled Legion, just like the book upon which it is based, and it forms a trilogy along with The Ninth Configuration, which deals with the astronaut briefly seen in the original. But the studio wanted an Exorcist movie, so the Father Morning character was made up and a pointless exorcism scene was thrown in. The premise is that a man claiming to be the Gemini Killer is in a mental institution, confusing everybody because the killer was put to death the same night that Father Karras died. Now a series of religion-themed copycat killings are taking place, and Kinderman (George C. Scott, chewing the scenery like there's no tomorrow) is on the case. Fantastic performances from Scott, Ed Flanders and especially Brad Dourif, plus possibly the best jump scare in any movie ever made, make this really worth watching. I'd love to see a real director's cut (there's a bunch of extra stuff that got cut that really should've been in, in my opinion, and you could lose the whole exorcism plot easily), but that's never going to happen. Cameos from Fabio and Samuel L. Jackson, too! A really good movie that could've been a real classic if it hadn't been meddled with. 4/5. 21. Paranormal Activity Rewatching this for the first time since it came out (technically a third watch, as I saw the version with the original – and in my opinion, superior – ending back before this hit theatres), and it really struck me how much of a complete dick Micah is. He wouldn't look out of place in any of the shorts in the first V/H/S with how unpleasant he is towards Katie for most of the run time. Basically, a young couple move into a beautiful suburban home (actually the home of director Oren Peli) and experience ghostly/daemonic activity at night, so Micah decides to try to capture it on film. This makes things worse, as we're led to believe that deliberately antagonising the supernatural entity is what's giving it power, and pretty soon we see Katie getting targeted by this force and it starts to influence her, in what is possibly an allegory for domestic abuse – Micah sleeps soundly each night, while Katie does not and appears to be self-harming to a degree; Katie begs Micah to stop being antagonistic, and to shut the camera off, but the only time he complies is because it'll get him laid. This is a really good film, let down by a tacked-on sequel-bait ending; check out the original 'alternate cut' version if you can. 4/5. 22. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones Ugh. This movie is pretty dumb. It's quite fun, for the most part, to watch a couple of idiot teenagers doing stupid stuff (that only gets stupider when one of them appears to get 'guardian angel' powers from the daemon), but like the other PA sequels it attempts to flesh out a mythology that was way more interesting when we knew less about it. It's clever how the ending ties into the events of the first movie – we get to see the climactic events from a different point of view – but this completely destroys the creepy allegorical nature of the first one and confirms that, yes, it is all just the work of a daemon. It's still better than 3 and 4 by a wide margin, but that's not saying much. 2/5. 23. Let The Right One In A troubled, bullied young boy named Oskar befriends a young girl, Eli, that just moved in next door with a man that at first glance seems to be her father. But it turns out he's not really her father, and she's not really a young girl. This is a neat vampire story, where Eli needs someone to bring her blood to feed on. Her current carer, Hakan, is getting too old to handle this and so Eli looks to recruit Oskar to take his place. She first meets Oskar as he is playing with a knife, acting out his revenge fantasy against his bullies, but seems reluctant to take advantage of him. Oskar persists in trying to befriend what he thinks is a girl, and she eventually concedes and the two misfits form quite a sweet friendship. Even though Oskar becomes increasingly aware of Eli's true nature, he's a lonely little boy that is willing to pretend that 'she' can still be his girlfriend. This film has a great juxtaposition of the sweet, relatively innocent nature of their friendship and some truly brutal horror. It's let down only by some really, really lovely effects (in particular, the bit where the cats go crazy), but is otherwise a must-see. Is there more good Swedish horror? Everything about this film is so unrelentingly bleak, from the brutalist architecture to the icy landscapes; it seems like a perfect setting for spooky stories, far away from 'upper middle class people in surburbia' that dominates most of the films I've watched. This also had an American remake, 'Let Me In', which is not as good in my opinion but still a solid movie worth a watch if you liked this one. 4/5. 24. Rec There's not a wasted moment in this film. It's only about 80 minutes long, and after a brief introduction to set the scene (a late-night TV show documenting a day-in-the-life of some Spanish firemen) there's an almost non-stop barrage of violence, gore and terror. The crew and the firemen find themselves trapped in a quarantined apartment block, where there is an outbreak of a virus that's turning people into murderous, blood-crazed monsters. And the climactic scene is definitely something that'll keep viewers awake at night. This also got an American remake 'Quarantine', which is nowhere near as good (though the sequel is okay, and is unrelated to the [Rec] series). 5/5. 25. The Grudge After the huge success of the excellent American remake of The Ring, east-Asian girls with wet hair were all the rage in horror movies. Like The Ring, this is a remake of a Japanese movie ('Ju-on: The Grudge'), but unlike The Ring: it sucks. I swear I remember being frightened by this when I saw it in the theatre, but on this rewatch I was just bored. Despite a pretty solid cast (including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Clea DuVall, Grace Zabriskie – all of whom I think are great), this is just a soulless, by-the-numbers ghost flick. I'm one of those weirdos that like the American version of The Ring more than the Japanese original, but I've never seen the original Ju-on, so I should probably correct that (though it's directed by the same person?). Some spooky sound design here, but otherwise nothing good. 1/5. 26. Army of Darkness (Evil Dead III) I don't know if this really qualifies as a horror movie. It takes the slapstick zaniness of Evil Dead II and ramps it into overdrive as Ash finds himself back in time and taken prisoner by some medieval knights. Retconned a bit from the end of II, where he kills a deadite and is immediately hailed as a hero from the sky, Ash is thrown into a pit and has to slaughter two deadites in order to escape. When he does, he uses his 'boomstick' to terrify the castle's occupants into treating him like a hero, and then is sent on his way to quest for the Necronomicon, so that they may be able to achieve victory over the deadites once and for all (and send Ash back to the future). Along the way, Ash bumbles his way through an encounter with dozens of evil, miniature versions of himself that results in an 'Evil Ash' splitting off from him, who goes on to command the legion of the dead when 'Good Ash' completely fucks up an incantation when retrieving the cursed book. It's hilarious, it's bloody and very, very fun, but there's basically zero 'horror' here. Still deserves a good score, on account of being a great film; just don't go in expecting anything like any other instalment in the Evil Dead series. 4/5. 27. The Walking Dead (Telltale video game) Cheating again with another choose-your-own-adventure interactive movie game, but I love this and wanted an excuse to replay it. Lee, a former college professor, starts off in the back of a police car and on his way to prison, having been convicted of murdering his wife's lover. The zombie outbreak is just beginning, and the car gets into an accident and Lee manages to escape. Shortly after, he encounters a young girl hiding in a treehouse, named Clementine, whose parents are on holiday and babysitter has been killed by a zombie. Clementine helps him fight off the now-zombified babysitter, and in return he promises to keep her safe and help her find her parents. Upon finding a pair of guys with a car, the two retreat to the countryside for safety (ending at the farm from season 2 of the TV show) and then everything starts to go wrong, but the two form a strong relationship and Lee becomes a father-figure for Clem as it becomes more apparent that her parents are probably dead. This is a really awesome game; it pretty-much kickstarted the genre and remains amongst the best of its kind. The plot (and often the acting) stand head and shoulders above the TV show and deals with all the tropes of zombie holocaust stories in a surprisingly mature way, and has some of the most heartbreaking moments to ever appear in a video game. It's also been released on almost every platform (Windows, 360, Xbone, PS3, PS4, Android, iOS, OSX) and the lengthy first episode is available for free on most of them, so you'd be nuts to not at least give it a try. The second season is nowhere near as good (though I think it's better than the Games forum would have you believe), but the first is unmissable, albeit suffering from some technical problems and some mildly annoying action sequences. 4/5. 28. Lake Mungo I've watched this film so many times but I still love it each time I watch it. Presented as a documentary about a family (named the Palmers, in an obvious nod to Twin Peaks) whose teenage daughter Alice was found drowned in a nearby dam. Since her death, the family have struggled to cope with the grief and believe that Alice is still with them in ghost form. As the film progresses, the family (and us) discover more about Alice's secret life; despite being seemingly happy on the surface, Alice was a deeply depressed girl with a lot of secrets. At its core, Lake Mungo is a study on coping with grief and trying to understand the nature of depression, with a ghost story sewn throughout in the form of grainy home footage and photographs. Each family member is dealing with their loss in a different way and struggle to finally accept what has happened and move on. Incredible movie. 5/5. 29. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me NB: Don't watch this movie if you intend to watch the series (especially now that there's a new season coming out, 25 years after it was originally cancelled!), as it contains huge spoilers. The series opens with the discovery of the body of Laura Palmer, that has washed up on the banks of the river running through town. We learn more and more about the secret double-life that Laura led through the characters on the show, but of course we never see her in the flesh. Fire Walk With Me is a prequel story in two halves: Teresa Banks and The Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer. Teresa was named in the series as a homicide victim whose death was extremely similar to Laura's, so the movie begins with FBI agents investigating her murder. This takes place in Deer Meadow, which is the anti-Twin Peaks: everybody is hostile and couldn't care less about Teresa, whereas the vibrant Twin Peaks is filled with colourful characters that (at least appeared to) care deeply about Laura. The lead agent, played by Chris Isaak, goes missing during the investigation while at the same time a long-lost agent (played by David Bowie) investigating another related case reappears, frantically ranting about the place he was taken to by mysterious people, before vanishing again. Most of the movie is dedicated to Laura's last days, where we see how truly desperate and broken a person she was, despite being held up as the perfect, beautiful homecoming queen. It's possibly one of the most tragic stories committed to film; we watch Laura destroy herself as she attempts to deal with her history of sexual abuse through a cocktail of drugs, alcohol and prostituting herself out to a variety of scumbags. Everybody knows something is wrong, but nobody tries to help her, and she falls prey to the evil forces that feed on human suffering. It really is a shame that this flopped, and we never got to see the other two movies Lynch had in mind; there are so many gaps here and there that just make me want to know more - and while the recently-released 'Missing Pieces' gives us some more insight, it's just not enough. Hopefully the new season will answer some of the questions. 4/5. 30. Possession Anna, an unfaithful wife in a failing marriage is having an affair, and her obsessive husband Mark (who is a spy for a living) tries to figure out who it is with. Mark begins to lose his sanity and becomes increasingly violent towards Anna, who is extremely secretive about the nature of her affair and seems to have a tenuous grasp on reality herself. Desperate, Mark hires a private investigator to follow Anna, who soon finds out that she's living in another apartment with... something. This is a bizarre and at times beautiful movie, set with the Berlin Wall in the background. Nothing seems real and everything is horrifying and violent. Hellraiser looks like it cribbed the nature of the wife's affair from this film, as Anna is prepared to kill for her new lover and will stop at nothing to be with him. Thoroughly unpleasant but incredibly captivating, this is probably now one of my favourite horror movies. 5/5.
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Oct 31, 2015 14:23
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Lurdiak posted:Welp, I can't sleep, so I might as well rank all the new movies I saw while hosting the Scream Stream. Mild spoilers in some of these. Every time I watch it I find something else in it that makes me uncomfortable in it, it's quite an amazing feat. And yes, I'm going to hit 150.
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Oct 31, 2015 15:29
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#58. Excision (2012) Pauline is a troubled young girl. The high school senior very likely has undiagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder. She's standoffish to everyone. She's obsessed with morbid and bloody imagery. She's the unkempt weird girl that sits in the corner and pisses everyone off. Her homelife is hard too. Her dad tries to be fun and cool but is easily exasperated. Her mother tries to be high society and religious and absolutely does not stand for Pauline's strangeness. Her younger sister is dying from cycstic fibrosis, but is otherwise a normal young teen girl, completely at odds with Pauline. In between her extremely graphic fantasy sequences, Pauline struggles with school and church and dreams of one day becoming a surgeon. Well. I was shown this as part of a marathon of "horror" movies I've been watching with others this month and I was super interested at first because I hadn't even heard of it. Now I know why. For most of the movie I wouldn't call it horror at all, but rather it feels like the sort of "troubled youth" shock-value type film you'd see from say, Todd Solondz, that while not bad, don't exactly fall in the horror realm. However, her horror fantasies are quite graphic and horror-ish. Also, there's an extremely graphic surprise ending that due to personal reasons and triggers left me personally shell-shocked. There's nothing inherently WRONG with this kind of movie, but it's not for me. /5
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Oct 31, 2015 15:45
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51. Cabin in the Woods (2012) A fun take on horror cliches, but ultimately it feels a little lacking to me. I always enjoy giving it a watch, but it's like a hollow chocolate Easter bunny: on the surface everything is delicious and amazing, but there's not really any heart or substance to it. 52. Army of Darkness (1992) This is when Bruce Campbell became Bruce Campbell. 53. Halloween (1978) An understated delight. I need to get around to seeing this in a theater at some point. 54. The Vault of Horror (1973) A great sequel to Amicus Films' Tales from the Crypt. In fact, I might actually like this one better. The effects aren't quite as convincing, but the stories are all incredible. And I love the late 60s/early 70s British aesthetic (especially in the second story, "The Neat Job"). Very enjoyable little flick! Topper Harley fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 16:03
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#59. Oculus (2013) A young brother and sister's home goes awry when a haunted (?) mirror gets put in their home, making everyone go crazy. Eleven years later, the brother is released from a mental hospital, on the road to recovery, when his sister reveals she still believes everything and ropes him into coming back to the home to try to put an end to the mirror once and for all. Now, the two stories play concurrently for us. The mirror causes all senses to become untrustworthy, including sense of place and time. Not just for the characters, but for the viewers as well. I liked this one a lot. On the surface it feels like all the other sorta tepid hollywood horror films of the past decade, with emphasis on action and tinted cameras and ghosts. But the way time and space and other assumptions get played with really is an amazing thing that messes with your head full tilt. You find yourself not knowing what is real and what isn't, and characters and locations and times blur together seamlessly. Also, I'd like to make special mention of how well the younger versions are portrayed in this film. It's rare to have a child cast that feels so real and well acted. Well done movie, you surprised me. /5
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Oct 31, 2015 19:30
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Day 31 - Halloween 3: Season of the Witch I started to write my review for this and I went entirely overboard. It's about 2250 words for me to say that this movie is loving bonkers but absolutely riveting in how silly it is. Nothing makes sense. There's no reason for any of the events to happen. It's a complete mess and yet I couldn't look away and watched in rapt astonishment. Full Review 4 out of 5
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Oct 31, 2015 19:33
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31. Mr. Boogedy (1986): this might be the first horror movie I ever saw in my life. It's been close to 30 years since I've seen it. It's actually a short film that aired on the Wonderful World of Disney. It's a haunted house movie. I had some nostalgia for this, but it's really not a great movie and most people here probably wouldn't like it too much. There is one pretty good exposition scene that's actually shot to look like a children's book though, so it has that much going for it. It's not an abysmal movie overall or anything, just aimed at a very young audience. If you have a 6-8 year old in your life and you're wondering how they'd handle a horror movie, this is a pretty good gateway drug. 32. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): I watch this one every year, and it's dope. I disagree with other assessments that it doesn't hold up well. The chase scenes really aren't that long, and it's such a beautifully shot film. 33. Hocus Pocus(1993): This is another Disney movie, about 3 witches who have been brought back due to a virgin lighting a candle. The movie wasn't anything special, although I'm far outside the target demograph for it. Still, I doubt a 12 year old would find anything too scary here. There's a lot of good Halloween imagery throughout though.
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Oct 31, 2015 21:05
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Personally, my favorite stuff in TCM is everything with the crazy hitchhiker. It sets the mood so well.
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Oct 31, 2015 21:24
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Week 1: Travel 1. Unaware [1/10] | 2. Vinyan [8.5/10] | 3. Borderland [4/10] | 4. Calvaire [8/10] | 5. The Forest [2/10] | 6. Dead and Buried [7/10] | 7. The Visit [8/10] Week 2: Creature 8. Altered [6/10] | 9. Aliens vs Predator [3/10] | 10. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem [4/10] | 11. The Cat (Lao Mao) 1992 [7/10] | 12. Dog Soldiers [5/10] | 13. Prophecy [5/10] | 14. Species [7/10] Week 3: Technology 15. Skin I Live In [7/10] | Brainscan [3/10] | 17. Virus [6/10] | 18. Tetsuo 2 [5/10] | 19. Tetsuo 3 [3/10] | 20. Hellevator [1/10] | 21. Pulse [7/10] Week 4: Slasher 22. Nightmare on Elm Street 2 [7/10] | 23. Driller Killer [6.5/10] | 24. Hatchet for the Honeymoon [6/10] | 25. Sorority Row [6/10] | 26. Final Girls [6/10] | 27. Black Christmas [9/10] | 28. Last House on the Left [8/10] Week 5: Old 29. Messiah of Evil (1973) Old Prophecies | Weird Townsfolk | Woman Driven Insane I'm not completely sure I understood what was happening during this film to be honest, but it's a weird lurid slow-burn of a film with subpar acting and muddied sound design, in which a woman slowly succumbs to madness by way of some weird prophecy. There are a handful of just extremely awesome, creepy, unique moments in this film that MEAT scene in the supermarket, the weird crazy guy who eats the rat, the townsfolk all looking at the moon, the townsfolk jumping through the window) but as a whole it's too slow, too unintentionally jarring, too cheap and badly acted at moments, to be actually good. 4/10 30. Play Misty For Me (1971) Big Fan | Caution: Jazz Jessica Walter plays an obsessed fan of a radio DJ who has reunited with the love of his life. This film is all around excellent. It just absolutely looks great, and Jessica Walter is phenomenal, going from a bit off but still endearing, to radically bipolar and suicidal, to hysterically violent. Clint Eastwood puts words in his girlfriend's mouth and that Superman Punch and ragdoll down the cliff at the end was a weird choice, but this is a strong directorial debut. 8/10 31. Planet of the Vampires (1965) Cool Costumes | Spoiler: No Vampires I watched this for the spacesuit designs, which look to clearly have inspired Prometheus, and I think there's a bit of their normal uniforms in the X-Men film costume designs, too. Other than that, there is nothing to watch this film for. It's a bad Twilight Zone plot stretched to film length. A lot of lovely pained wincing and meandering around the ship's single hallway and room. The vampires are just lights that possess people. Can't believe this was directed by Mario Bava. 1/10
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Oct 31, 2015 21:26
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#60 (!) Voodoo Academy (1999) A voodoo demon lady and her assistant set up an alternative Christian college for young men, in order to lure pure and innocent young men in for a ceremony that makes them into Voodoo Dolls in order to bring about the zombocalypse. That's uh, the whole thing. Well then. David DeCoteau makes trashy movies. This is not in argument. He makes crappy horror, skinamax boobarama films, terrible family films now, and I believe starting with this film, crappy horror that is also beefcake films, making him a unique property. Instead of scantily clad lady centerfolds being chased by ghosts, it's scantily clad guy centerfolds. This movie meanwhile seemed about one degree off from being a gay porn, with lots of shots of the young musclebound men in their underwear writhing in lustful dreams on their bed, or having giggly splash fights with each other at bathtime, etc etc. It's ridiculous. (and not awful on the eyes!) /5
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Oct 31, 2015 21:41
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Grnegsnspm posted:
Halloween III is the perfect example of how a movie, especially a horror movie, can do everything so wrong and yet still come out perfectly entertaining for almost all of the wrong reasons. Bringing back Michael Myers was so boring compared to this. Why have we had so many restarts of the original Halloween, but no one revisits this film? CopywrightMMXI posted:31. Mr. Boogedy (1986): this might be the first horror movie I ever saw in my life. It's been close to 30 years since I've seen it. It's actually a short film that aired on the Wonderful World of Disney. It's a haunted house movie. I had some nostalgia for this, but it's really not a great movie and most people here probably wouldn't like it too much. There is one pretty good exposition scene that's actually shot to look like a children's book though, so it has that much going for it. It's not an abysmal movie overall or anything, just aimed at a very young audience. If you have a 6-8 year old in your life and you're wondering how they'd handle a horror movie, this is a pretty good gateway drug. I remember as a kid being annoyed because they would keep showing the sequel but never the first one. I'm a bit annoyed that my DVD of the last translated Nakagawa horror film I haven't seen didn't show up in time for Halloween so now I'm going to have to dig around on some streaming services for a horror film I haven't seen and hope I turn up something good this evening. I was just going to post about last night's viewing at the same time as tonights, but since I'm posting anyway: Day 30 - Return of the Living Dead is so much fun for just taking it's absurd premise and then running with as far as they could. Return of the Living Dead 3 doesn't bring any of that back. The army is still experimenting with raising the dead and trying to make them into unstoppable killing machines. The teenage son of one of the project heads breaks into the base with his girlfriend and see one of the experiments. Later, while running away from home, they get into a traffic accident and the girlfriend dies so he does the logical thing and turns her into a zombie and they go on the run together. Getting a bit far afield here, but the movie I want to see is the one about the budgeting process for the zombie research. Who approved it? What did congress say when the army went before them and said, "We want a billion dollars to revive corpses with an infectious agent that turns them into ravenous, all consuming engines of destruction." "Why, no, Senator, I fail to see any way that this could possibly cause any kind of problem." The best thing about Return of the Living Dead 3 is that when they do break out the zombies, things are pretty good and horrific. Those moments are few and far between, though. Instead, we mainly get a boring teenagers on the run story. The story of the girlfriend's slow decline into brain munching zombiedom could have been a good hook for the film, but the script and direction are just too clumsy for it. She's the victim in this story and should be the one driving the plot and instead it's the boyfriend that's the active one. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 23:19
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55. The Fly (1986) Gross. 56. Carnival of Souls (1962) A woman who plays church organs for money has a weird rapey neighbor and sees dead people.
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Oct 31, 2015 23:35
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Topper Harley posted:56. Carnival of Souls (1962) Did you like it? If so, you should go watch Messiah of Evil
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Oct 31, 2015 23:52
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Dr.Caligari posted:Did you like it? If so, you should go watch Messiah of Evil I've actually seen Messiah of Evil and I really dug it (it didn't make a ton of sense, but there were some incredibly tense moments that I really dug- especially the scene in the movie theater). I did like Carnival of Souls, but I think Messiah of Evil is better. 57. Nightbreed (1990) God, this was stupid. I saw the theatrical cut once in college and thought it was stupid too. The fact that people were willing to pay an outrageous price for Scream Factory's blu-ray made me think twice about the film, so I gave it another shot. Nope. Still not my cup of tea. Want to watch a preachy movie about monsters? Nightbreed.
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Nov 1, 2015 00:57
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Nightbreed is basically the other side of Clive Barker that Hellraiser didn't show. Some people dig those aspects of his style. Others don't.
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Nov 1, 2015 02:49
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Had an unexpected day off yesterday, so I binge-watched a few. 22. The Haunting of Molly Hartley 5/10 A typical teenage PG-13 horror flick that caught me off guard with a satanic panic devil-worship cult plot, rather than the ghost story I expected. I kinda liked it. 23. The Exorcism of Molly Hartley 3/10 A sequel to the above film taking place a few years later. It's mostly terrible. 24. eXistenZ 9/10 Delightfully weird and visceral. I put off seeing this for far, far too long. Cronenberg's brand of body horror is one of the few things in horror movies that I'm not desensitized to. I found myself physically cringing at some of the more bizarre and gross imagery. 25. Splatter (2009?) what/10 What the gently caress is this? What the gently caress is this? Roger Corman presents a Joe Dante film, starring Corey Feldman and Tony Todd? And it was apparently supposed to be a web series where viewers voted for the ending of each episode? And it's been cobbled together and put on Netflix with a running time of 29 minutes? I can't find a lot of information about this and I can't even determine if what I did find was true. Some sites list is at a 10 episode series, some as a movie, some as a webseries, some as a television series. I have no idea. All I know is that it was some of the most batshit crazy garbage I've ever seen.
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Nov 1, 2015 03:56
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Day 31 - I was wishing I had saved a movie I knew would be great for the 31st. But at least I picked out Oculus to watch so I could wrap the month up with something good. Eleven years ago, Kaylie and Tim's father went nuts, killed their mother, and then tried to kill them. Tim killed him and spent the next decade in an institution. When he gets out, Kaylie demands that he fulfills the promise they made that night: to destroy the evil mirror that caused their misery. She might be crazy... or this might be a horror movie. I found it amusing that this movie's villain could be killed by a neighbor kid hitting a baseball through the window. However, it works because the characters have a plan to prove the the mirror is supernaturally evil and then smash it. The mirror is smarter than they are, though, and the movie makes it clear once things get rolling that the human characters are in over their heads. Something this movie made me think about is how annoying it is when horror movies make their monsters essentially omnipotent. While a few movies use that as part of the overwhelming nature of their evil (Grave Encounters which I watched a few days ago did this well, particularly because there was a clear escalation that was occurring), too many of them just use it to be lazy with their monster. In Oculus there's some pretty explicit rules established for the mirror early on and the threat from it is that it gets inside your head and makes you see and do things and that meant that while its powers could appear to be almost anything there were still limited in ways that gave the characters a chance to deal with it. The absolute worst thing about Oculus is Karen Gillan cannot hold an accent at all. It was actually kind of confusing for me at the beginning of the film because she kept slipping into her Scottish accent while supposedly being one of a pair of American siblings. So, hey! Thirty-one! I did it again and all movies I had not scene before! Discovering and digging into the films of Nobuo Nakagawa was a lot of fun as was exploring the many sides of Yatsuya Kaidan (next year I may watch a few more adaptations just for the hell of it). Watching some Hammer movies finally was great, too! The worst film I watched this month was Demons which was absolutely ghastly. The Houses That October Built was better but not by that much. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Nov 1, 2015 |
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Nov 1, 2015 04:47
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Random Stranger posted:The worst film I watched this month was Demons which was absolutely ghastly. The Bava film? I love it.
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Nov 1, 2015 05:38
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58. Trick 'r Treat (2007) This is a Halloween tradition around here. This movie is so much drat fun. It really captures what Halloween felt like when I was in elementary school. People would decorate. Trick or Treating would last hours and typically involve mischief. It seemed like everyone was in the spirit back then. Sadly, that is not the case anymore. Maybe that's just my perception, but this year my house was the only one on my street that decorated for Halloween, and we got a record low number if trick or treaters. Anyway, this movie is just the thing to get you into the Halloween spirit. There are some scenes that capture the entire season just using color. It's a love letter to the holiday if ever there was one and I highly recommend it. Thanks to this movie, my jack 'o lantern is still lit. 59. Zombieland (2009) A nice, fast-paced, well-made, humorous little zombie flick. Nothing to complain about here! 60. Fright Night (1985) I'm actually watching this one right now, and it will end just about 15 minutes before Halloween is over. God, I love this movie. I love the atmosphere it creates. I love the straightforward way it was shot. I love the music that often makes you feel like you're watching a porn. I love the effects. I love the cast. I just love this movie. The first time I saw it, it was on Cinemax or some pay channel my grandfather had. I only caught the ending, but I knew I needed to see the rest so I rented it the next day. Immediately fell in love with it. There was a K-Mart near my house that had the VHS for sale and I remember hiding it, then checking the hiding place every subsequent shopping trip until I had saved up enough money to buy it. And then I bought it and watched it constantly. Fright Night, Halloween, and Blazing Saddles were probably the three most-watched VHS tapes I owned. I saw the remake, but I only remember one scene from it so it's probably time to give that another go. Either way, Fright Night holds a very special place in my heart. And that brings me to 60 movies total, 19 of which were first-time viewings. I saw nearly every movie in Wes Craven's filmography (skipped his porn flicks, Music of the Heart, and that French anthology thing). I also watched Half of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night but just couldn't get into it at all. My wife and I watched Harper's Island, which we saw when it first aired and enjoyed quite a bit but didn't love the second time around. Oh, and we watched Garfield's Halloween Adventure, which always brings back good memories. We checked out the new Rifftrax short The Night Dracula Saved The World and the first episode of Ash vs the Evil Dead as well. All in all, a good month of horror watching. Now if you'll excuse me, my dogs need some play time and my friends haven't seen me in a month. Topper Harley fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Nov 1, 2015 |
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Nov 1, 2015 06:32
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I wound up being really busy/lazy the past couple weeks, but I still managed to watch a movie a day. I'll keep most of these extra short. This was a good month, for the most part. October 18th: Wolf's Hole (1987) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090271/ A creepy Czechoslovakian flick about a group of teenagers stuck at a small skiing resort with their mysterious supervisors. Good stuff. October 19th: The Washing Machine (1993) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105785/ Ultra sleazy giallo-type stuff with three sisters playing games with a detective who's trying to find out who killed the pimp of the one of them, and where his body went. October 20th: Mécanix (2003) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427580/ French-Canadian and mostly stop-motion. Very pretty and strange. October 21st: Jack the Ripper (1976) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074408/ Klaus Kinski plays Jack the Ripper. Unsurprisingly, he's really good at it. October 22nd: Maggie (2015) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1881002/ Arnold Schwarzenegger's daughter is slowly turning into a zombie. It's all very sad, and Arnold does a surprisingly good job playing a scared, mourning father. October 23rd: Blind Faith (1989) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299548/ This might just be my favourite shot-on-video horror ever. I know I praised Cards of Death a little while ago, but this one's good in a different way. A detective and a psychologist are grilling three people, trying to find out where a serial killer hid the bodies. These people are one of his victims who apparently managed to escape, his mentally challenged accomplice, and the killer himself. It takes place mostly in an interrogation room, with various flashbacks to the gruesome events being described. I thought both the acting and effects were very good, especially for an SOV film. It's an interesting little flick that's worth a look. October 24th: City in Panic (1986) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299681/ A killer is targeting (mostly) gay men who have AIDS. An intriguing inversion from a genre that (mostly) targets women. October 25th: Stoker (2013) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682180/ It's good. Watch it. October 26th: Beyond the 7th Door (1987) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321432/ If you tied Tommy Wiseau and Billy Drago together and tossed them into a vat of nuclear waste, Lazar Rockwood is what would come crawling out. Besides that, this is one of the worst things I've ever seen. October 27th: The Eternal Present (2004) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445009/ A young man notices that everyone he interacts with has started dying, and is convinced that he has become the personification of death. Very strange, "artsy" stuff. I like it. October 28th: Sur le seuil (2003) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380732/ Tragic events seem to be happening after a horror novelist writes about them, and the doctor who's treating him after a suicide attempt tries to find a logical explanation for this. Not bad at all. October 29th: Corruption (1968) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061520/ Just how many "mad scientist kills/mutilates a bunch of people to try and fix his disfigured/dead loved one" movies are there? October 30th: Black Past (1989) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163554/ Lots of gross gore and even grosser mullets in this one. Not that great, but the effects are really fantastic. Much better then anything from Andreas Schnaas, who makes similar German shot-on-video gorefests. October 31st: Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101821/ I probably watched this movie 100 times as a kid. It's dumb, harmless fun, and I still enjoyed it.
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Nov 1, 2015 06:51
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Random Stranger posted:Halloween III is the perfect example of how a movie, especially a horror movie, can do everything so wrong and yet still come out perfectly entertaining for almost all of the wrong reasons. Bringing back Michael Myers was so boring compared to this. Why have we had so many restarts of the original Halloween, but no one revisits this film? I think this might become a new Halloween tradition for me. I feel the need to make people watch this.
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Nov 1, 2015 08:09
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So, closing thoughts. I hit 60 films, all new-to-me this October. I impressed myself, and now I'm worried cause that means I have to top it next year (go big or go home when you ironman). There were some real stinkers in the crop, and some real impressive films there too. I think the most surprising buried gem for me was Malèfique, which satisfied my itch for something with the same sort of "personal hell" feel as Hellraiser, and it will definitely become a cherished part of my permanent collection. Lurdiak's scream stream provided lots of time to be exposed to stuff, have fun, and make new friends. October's the most exciting part of the year for a horror nerd like me. Glad I have the subforum to help me enjoy it. 
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Nov 1, 2015 11:13
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cthulusnewzulubbq posted:The Bava film? I love it. No, this was a 2014 film. There's about a dozen movies that go by the title "Demons". Choco1980 posted:So, closing thoughts. I hit 60 films, all new-to-me this October. I impressed myself, and now I'm worried cause that means I have to top it next year (go big or go home when you ironman). There were some real stinkers in the crop, and some real impressive films there too. I think the most surprising buried gem for me was Malèfique, which satisfied my itch for something with the same sort of "personal hell" feel as Hellraiser, and it will definitely become a cherished part of my permanent collection. Lurdiak's scream stream provided lots of time to be exposed to stuff, have fun, and make new friends. I was worried when I started the month that I was going to be reduced to watching the terrible DTV horror films on the streaming services since I was dedicated to watching films I hadn't seen. I've watched pretty much all of the classics so I need to dig a bit deeper. I think I did pretty well, though. The movies of no redeeming value were rare this month.
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Nov 1, 2015 14:17
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#143.Peeping Tom (1960). Mark is an aspiring film maker. He also enjoys putting a knife in his camera and stabbing women while video taping them. This is a gem. A photo-slasher from 1960 doesn't sound like it would be very good, but it's a wondrous experience. While I'm in the camp that a slasher should focus on the people surrounding the killer, this mainly focuses on the killer and how he is. He is a dynamic character, full of depth. Actually, all the characters have depth, it's refreshing. It's shot beautifully, has great music, and ends in such a satisfying way. This is certainly way ahead of its time. #144.Lifeforce (1985). Astronauts go to space to check out a comet and they find a huge ship with giant bats and three people inside. They bring the people back and they're space vampires. My third Tobe Hooper experience this month. This is an interesting take on the vampire mythos. Its starts off good and keeps the momentum. I watched the directors cut which is a bit longer. Good special effects and Patrick Stewart! #145.It Follows (2014). A girl has sexy with a guy and he tells her that "it" will follow her until it kills her and that she has to sleep with someone to pass it on. #146.Videodrome (1983). A TV executive sees a TV called Videodrome that he wants for his network. Things start to go really crazy. It's Cronenberg at one of his finest moments (he has many). His brand of body horror is remarkably effective still today. A choice watch. #147.Cronos (1993). A man finds a device which allows him immortality. A wonderful take on the vampire mythos. It's beautiful to look at, a great story, and it has fantastic characters. #148.The Legend of Hell House (1973). 4 people go to the "mr.Everest of haunted houses" to determine if there is life after death. I consider this to be one of the best haunted house movies. It has everything I like in them. It's full of atmosphere, good effects, it's quite evocative. It's creepy. #149.Halloween III (1982). A doctor and his patient's (well, patient for an hour) daughter go to a town to explore why the patient was killed. Earlier in the thread it's pointed out how batshit insane this is. That's the correct way to look at this. It's pure unfiltered insanity. It's also a fun watch. #150.Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1998). A couple of sorority pledges and some guys spying on their hazing go to a bowling alley to steal a trophy. They release an imp who creates demons to kill them. Pure 80's schlock. It's absurd and ridiculous. The characters are cannon fodder, the effects are mediocre, and the plot makes no sense. It's still fun. #151.The Fog (1980). A fog comes into town with something in it that likes to kill. 2 years after we get Halloween, we get the Fog. It's drat good, and as mentioned earlier it doesn't deserve an R rating. It's really really tame. Regardless, it has amazing actors, a good story, and neat effects. It's still good to watch.
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Nov 1, 2015 17:48
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Thanks again for the great month! Someone needs to PM me when a 'Weird Wednesday' happens e; I actually meant to post this in the scream stream thread.. oh well, works here too Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Nov 1, 2015 |
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Nov 1, 2015 20:56
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I don't think it's specifically on wednesdays that lurd does weirdstream, but I made sure to tell him to put me on the list for notifying when they happen.
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Nov 1, 2015 21:01
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Choco1980 posted:I don't think it's specifically on wednesdays that lurd does weirdstream, but I made sure to tell him to put me on the list for notifying when they happen. What's weirdstream, sounds fun?
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Nov 1, 2015 23:07
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Weird Night happens once in a while, where I stream a weird feature and several very weird shorts. Possession and Altered States were featured in the last two. It's a bit more work to put together than most of my streams, so it's rarer.
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Nov 2, 2015 01:35
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Finished pretty strong! 43. Mama - A father commits a heinous crime and spirits his two children into the woods, where they are raised by a spirit. Really great, atmospheric movie about parenting. Though, I think it went on for too long. Mama seemed to alternate between vicious attacks and slightly malevolent hauntings, with not a lot of explanation for which she chooses to use. (4/5) 44. Life After Beth - A dude has to try to recover from the unexpected loss of his girlfriend. And her unexpected return. Pretty funny, and gorier than it first appears. Filled with famous funny people, which kind of accentuates how...only mildly funny it is. It's most direct comparison is Shaun of the Dead, particularly in the way clues as to what's going on happen in the background. Shaun is overall much better, but this was good. (4/5) xx. Grabbers - Aliens crash land and begin to attack residents on a small Irish island. They fight back by drinking. I like this movie a lot, but with all of the slurry drunks it's real hard to watch in a party setting, without subtitles. Still, it's a great horror comedy. (5/5)
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Nov 2, 2015 03:40
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#29 Bordello of Blood So much in here that could've made for a great movie, but it just doesn't come together. The PI is trying way too hard and his neverending attempt at being edgy gets annoying really fast. Scenes like the ride in the coffin of the super soaker blasting have this wonderful energy and the perfect wacky humor for a horror movie, but everything falls short. #30 Creepshow Some cool short stories that all have a very different vibe. It is diverse, very 80s and really enjoyable. One movie short, but it is a way better result than last year and with the newborn, holiday and Vermintide I am surprised there was time for 30 movies. I enjoyed Candyman and Suspiria the most, with Galaxy of Terror being the absolute worst.
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Nov 2, 2015 10:54
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 02:51 |
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Final List 1. Psycho 2. Black Christmas 3. Deep Red 4. Wicker Man 5. The Mummy 6. The Curse of Frankenstein 7. Drag Me to Hell 8. Candyman 9. Child’s Play 10. Lords of Salem 11. Suspiria 12. Hellraiser 13. From Beyond 14. Evil Dead 15. Evil Dead II 16. Re-Animator 17. Necronomicon 18. The Wolfman 19. The Howling 20. An American Werewolf in London 21. Poltergeist 22. City of the Living Dead 23. Sleepy Hollow 24. Curse of Chucky 25. Dracula(1931) 26. Horror of Dracula 27. Dracula(1973) 28. Dracula(1979) 29. Nosferatu The Vampyre 30. Frankenstein 31. Bride of Frankenstein 32. The Shining 33. Prince of Darkness 34. Body Bags 35. Creepshow 36.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 37. Creepshow 2 38. The Fog 39. The Exorcist 40. The Exorcist II: The Heretic 41. The Exorcist III 42. Return of the Living Dead 43. Trick r Treat 44. Halloween 45. Halloween II 46. Halloween III: Season of the Witch Had I known I had a chance at 50 I would have pushed more earlier on, but I watched 5 movies on Halloween so what can I say, the time just ran out. While clearly my list is the best by far, I still think I want to get a little more creative next year, and maybe give some of these well worn classics a year off. I'm thinking all first time viewings for the first three weeks and classic stuff for the week of Halloween. Oh well, plenty of time to think about it!
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Nov 2, 2015 15:43
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