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I didn't participate in the challenge, but we did watch a bunch of horror movies this October, so here's my brief recap, sorted chronologically. Loosely, our themes this year were Vincent Price, Hammer Dracula and Haunted Houses. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) Cute Ray Harryhausen stop-motion feature. I've seen very few fifties creature features, and I've been meaning to find out if any of them hold up next to Them! This one's nice enough, but it doesn't. House on Haunted Hill (1959) I saw the remake in cinema, so all the time I expected real ghosts to show up in the third act or so. Even with that misconception, this was nice to see for Vincent Price. The Brides of Dracula (1960) I've watched the Horror of Dracula twice, but it's left me cold both times. This sequel, despite not having Dracula at all, really benefits from not having a book to follow. We really liked the lengthy opening for its atmosphere, since you're not sure if the girl will end up dead or not. The Haunting (1963) Much more focused on Eleanor's psychology than the house that I expected, but it was easy to see why this one is considered a classic. The Last Man on Earth (1964) Vincent Price again. It has some good shots and probably follows the book most closely from all the adaptions, but I think the Charlton Heston one is most effective in presenting the hard-bitten lone survivor. Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966) Lee's back, but he doesn't say a single word here. His sinister servant Klove is great, as is Dracula's resurrection scene. But all together, I liked Brides more. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) Veronica Carlsen comes closest to Stoker's Mina (or at least Coppola's Mina) in the Hammer Dracula films we've seen so far. Decent, but I prefer the previous one. Witchfinder General (1968) A classic, but we didn't like it all that much. Price plays a very convincing real psychopath here, as opposed to hamming it up. The Stone Tape (1972) Love Nigel Kneale, and the idea of figuring out a haunted house with cutting edge (70s) tech is great. Absolutely recommended. Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) Fantastic atmosphere at the beginning with the abandoned medieval village and music, and the scenes with the titular dead are great. The middle parts of the movie not so much. The Legend of Hell House (1973) A more classic haunted house, with some similarities to the Stone Tape in atmosphere. The final act is a bit weak. The Night Strangler (1973) We've been meaning to watch the old Kolchak TV show sometime, and we've seen the first movie already. This one's nice, but a bit more of the same. The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) We saw that one out of order before starting over with the other Hammer films. It's pretty weak. My Bloody Valentine (1981) A post-Friday slasher. The all blue-collar mining town setting was novel. Fright Night (1985) A classic 80s horror film we had never seen. It took us near the end of the movie to figure out that the completely familiar girl was Marcy D'Arcy. Scream (1996) A rewatch, as our last film on Halloween itself. Hard to believe it's been 20 years already. 1408 (2007) Polished unremarkable Steven King adaption. Let the Right One In (2008) Nice, but somewhat ponderous. The Borderlands (2013) I'm not a fan of found footage, and the film probably would have worked just as well without that gimmick, but the payoff at the end is great. It Follows (2014) A rewatch for me. Still great, but not the kind of film I'd rewatch multiple times. Green Room (2015) This one fell a bit flat for us. Both of the times the gun got handed of felt like they made no sense for the characters, as well as leaving the door completely unguarded pretty much all of the time, and leaving before the job was finished. Maybe we didn't understand some of the dialogue, but I have no idea what the ultimate plan of the bad guys for staging the bodies was. Why were there gunshots at the end? I much preferred Blue Ruin. The Witch (2015) Atmospheric, but thin on plot. For what story there is, this could have been a lot shorter.
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Nov 4, 2016 15:57
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 12:57 |
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Basebf555 posted:The band had gas siphoning equipment in their van, so the idea was that they'd set up the bodies as if they had been trying to steal gas and were attacked and killed by the guard dogs. It would be an unfortunate tragedy but not the full-on murder investigation that gunshot wounds would almost certainly bring down on them. Of course that plan gradually goes to poo poo as they lose control of the situation, but it had a logic to it at the beginning. I got that part, but I think the Nazis were also shooting guns off in the distance for some reason when they were in the forest sneaking up on them?
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Nov 5, 2016 02:32
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