|
 How am I in the horror discord and only seeing this 8 pages deep?! I'm in for 31. Don't know that I will review all 31, but by god I'll watch that many.
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2018 01:50
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 12:54 |
|
|
Spatulater bro! posted:Jacques Tourneur was actually against showing the demon at all but the producer insisted. As much respect as I have for Tourneur I have to say I'm glad his opinion got trumped. The demon adds a wonderful visceral, almost campy, element to the film that I feel benefits it. quote:REGION FREE  And since M.R. James has been brought up , I’m going to give my yearly suggestion of the 1970s series A Ghost Story For Christmas They are a series of short, slow burn ghost stories that range from good to amazing. At least some of the shorts are usually always on YT, otherwise the DVD set is rather expensive
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2018 18:46
|
|
|
Drunkboxer posted:So for that to count for the challenge would we need to watch all of them? Individually they’re too short. Oh, yeah, sorry. No, I never count them toward the challenge, but thought them worth mentioning in the Halloween thread. They make a nice atmospheric filler.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2018 21:51
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:Shock has a really good underseen performance by Daria Nicolodi, if anyone is already a fan from her work with Argento. Maybe the best 30 second trailer ever
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2018 23:36
|
|
|
Choco1980 posted:So. There's one week left til the month starts, and I can actually begin my watching of stuff I've never seen. As I said earlier, I'd love if this year I would get some major goon input what to watch. This is difficult, because as you can see from My Letterboxd which is I'm sure by no means 100% accurate, (not to mention the site has a whole separate section for "thrillers" whatever that means) I've watched quite a few, so this marathon challenge of my personal rules gets harder each year. Anyways, I'm basically asking for your help. I'll let any goon command me in October to watch a horror movie I haven't. Only one title per person, so as not to make a mess of things. I'll do my best to include it in my lineup. There's no toxxing or anything here, it's just for fun, I just like the idea of you all making up my mind for me. To make things least error-filled, I guess you can go through that Letterboxd list linked above. If you name something I've already seen but is missing from the list, we both have a laugh, and you get to choose again. I don't care where you suggest the title to me; here, in the scream stream discord, in my pm inbox, whatever floats your boat. Thanks for the help! e; Wait, you haven't seen Eyes Without A Face? Definitely that. If you have seen it, Homicidal (1961) . If you also saw that... Microwave Massacre. Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Sep 25, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2018 05:39
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
I was going to wait until next Monday to start the October challenge, but I want to get a jump on these challenges, so here we go... Movies set in, or filmed in, Ohio isn't as dire as you may imagine at first. Many of the Scooby-Doo movies take place in "Coolsville, Ohio", and even the thread favorite Trick R' Treat takes place in the fictionalized town of "Warren Valley, Ohio". Then there is the cult favorite, and one of my favorites I just discovered last year, The Dead Next Door, which was filmed in Akron. But this is the October challenge, and I'm jumping in headfirst. So I present..  The Wednesday Children This zero budget film was made in 1973 in Wadsworth, Ohio by a professor at Kent State University. This may be the most amateur film I have ever seen. The first 45+ minutes feels like someones home video as they follow a boy and his family to the pool, a baseball game and church, all while introducing characters that seem to be of no importance. The church janitor, a drat, dirty hippie  , starts hanging out with the local group of kids. If you didn't read a summary of this movie somewhere, you probably wouldn't know what is going on. The 'deaths' (if they even were deaths) are the most ambiguous of any movie, ever. An adult and kid will be in the pool, then the next scene is an abandoned floatie in the pool and the kid shows up somewhere later, and we are suppose to take this to mean the kid killed the adult despite this type of editing happening other times and nothing insidious happened. With this coming out 3 years prior to Who Can Kill A Child?, and having a strong anti-hippie/ 'liberal' message I think it could have maybe been something in the right directors hands. Not a good something, likely, but something. If you are looking for an amateur VHS-quality Ohio filmed feature, I recommend Homebodies  / out of 5 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2018 23:38
|
|
FRAN CHALLENGE #3: Hometown Horror
|
Franchescanado posted:
For a second time, your challenge has succeeded in introducing me to a film I hadn't heard of previously. My watch for this challenge is one that I found many people to claim to be Wes Cravens' worst, Deadly Friend . This is a strange movie. It starts off as a quirky 80s family movie, complete with BB, a personal robot assistant to our main man Paul. Paul and his mother move to town thanks to Paul getting a scholarship at PolyTech. Early on we are introduced to the few characters in this movie, Paul's love interest, Sam, Sam's alcoholic father, his best friend Tom, and the cranky, paranoid next door neighbor played by Anne Ramsey (playing the only character I ever known her to play). Very quickly this movie moves from bubbly made-for- TV material, to darker themes when Sams abusive father shoves her down the stairs and kills her. Things then move back into goofy 80s TV material until Paul decides the best choice of action is to steal Sam's body and implant microchips in her brain to bring her back. And things get crazy from here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRT3C9Z9sCk I am going to disagree about this being Cravens worst, I haven't seen them, but I believe THHE 2 or Chiller would have been a more appropriate pick for the worst. The tone of this movie is strange and the comedy doesn't work, especially with the material surrounding it. That said, this was hell of entertaining and there are a few scenes like the one above where you and your buds, who are drinking and staying up late to watch this movie, will say 'Duuuuude!'. Might be a good match with Chopping Mall
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2018 03:32
|
|
Watch a highly regarded director's worst movie.
|
M_Sinistrari posted:
I’ve always wanted to know more about the behind the scenes on this .There’s no way “T.L.P. Swicegood” is an person, and some say HGL was the real director. Doesn’t make much sense to me a director would boilerplate his own, other more successful movie that he put his name, on for this I like this movie though. It was on one of those 6-movie DVD packs. Blood Feast is meaner, where this is goofier, even getting a few chuckles from me. Highly recommended if you want something goofy and to witness the most amazing stair chase scene you will ever see .
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2018 13:37
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
With so many foreign-to-me movies on that list, I randomly picked one I could find on YouTube and the winner was..... Fear No Evil  Two-hit wonder (and allegedly gay director) Frank LaLoggia (the other film being Lady In White bring us this very serious and ambitious movie about the battles between God and Lucifer. As part of this movie's huge ambition is it's exposition sequences, which is where this movie starts with a segment and voice over narration describing God's problems with Lucifer, and then sending his archangels to combat Lucifer on Earh. Lucifer in this feature is played by Stefan Arngrim  Lucifer, incarnated as a boy named Andrew, seems to be a confused character. Of course, at his baptism as an infant, things go awry. But then we jump forward to his high school years where he is getting straight A's and being pretty well behaved for horror movie high schooler. His reserved attitude gets him noticed by the school bully. This leads us to the most memorable scene in the movie where all the boys are getting done with gym class and head to the showers. The camera does not shy away from a shower room of full frontal nudity where the jocks start to harass Andrew and are going to teach him a lesson by kissing him (?)  Something happens during the kiss which we the viewer aren't really made clear about. Does he electrocute him? Shows him some scene of past horrors, ala The Green Mile? Who knows. The human incarnated archangels meet up with each other and their is a show down in an ancient, incomplete castle (which also gets it's own lengthy exposition via a tour steamer passing by as Lucifer listens on) . The only other thing I have to say about this movie is the soundtrack is unbelievable and can't help but wonder if he paid for the rights to use music by The Talking Heads, the Boomtown Rats, The Ramonesand the Sex Pistols /5
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2018 23:03
|
|
|
Choco1980 posted:Annnnd, Sinistri beat my record from last year before October even started. And you all wonder why some of us think the head start is horsegarbage. I still see the head start as preseason warm-up my opinion is likely to change when I come up three movies short on the 31st and decide to count my 2 week head start
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2018 16:44
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
Halloween 4 Looking for something to watch on the first day of October, I found Shudders new Halloween additions. Fondly remembering 1, 2 and 3 , I remember watching 4 over a decade ago and hating it, but not remembering why and figured it would be a good fit for the first, and this challenge to get me caught up. I now know why I neither remembered or liked it, although now just a day after it’s already fleeting. This movie is paint-by-numbers, un-loving-remarkable. Like explain to anyone the situation you put yourself in by making the first three, then tell them you need to get this slasher franchise back on track and you get the first 99% of this movie. The twist at the end doesn’t make sense. It feels like someone thought that was the most amazing twist and the shot at the end would become iconic. But maybe not, because the rest of the movie feels like they just needed to crank out something fast to show Michael Meyers is back Oh, and another kicker is that MM looks as generic as this movie is. I guess it makes sense that he wouldn’t have retained his original jumpsuit and mask, but I could have forgave it. It would have been just as believable as transporting this crazy, psycho-killer unsecured via ambulance and two security guards and , the ending and other junk in this movie . I’m curious where they go with 5, because I forget that one too, but I might just read the wiki entry /5
Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Oct 2, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2018 21:08
|
|
|
Lake Bodom A couple boys decide to go camping in the same spot as the infamous Finnish murders in 1960. They lure a couple girls a long by telling them they have a cabin they are going to stay in. The idea here is that by recreating the conditions (but not even on the anniversary date, I don’t believe), the killer from 1960 will show him/her/itself again. This movie is kind of sloppy, but a decent watch. The casting choices and dialog aren’t the best, but my biggest problem is unnecessarily building itself around an actual unsolved murder. I know in the age of crime podcasts, serial killer movies and on-demand documentaries profiteering off murder is always a thing to some degree. But unlike others, this movie isn’t meant to inform or even speculate on what really happened, it’s all just used as a prop and no doubt name recognition. The twists are decent and it passes the time but I don’t think this will be on any of my new favorites lists at the end of the month /5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2018 21:25
|
|
|
Ghost Stories (2017) I’ve been looking forward to this one and saved it for the challenge. This is an anthology, broken into three stories and the wrap-around, that focuses on a man who speciality is debunking paranormal phenomenon. The stories are all well done, but what shines is the wrap-around/ twist. Some thought was put into this and it paid off to make interesting what is usually a weak aspect of many anthologies. A couple things, one (no fault of the movies) is that I wish I watched this with closed captions on. Some of the actors speak very-British and quickly, so it’s easy to miss or not understand dialogue. The other thing, and the only real complaint I would have, is that the movie does a great job of building atmosphere and pacing, but it seems like they couldn’t help but use jump scared, accompanied by a loud sound of course. They weren’t over-the-top in either execution or frequency , but I felt this movie was well made enough that it could have went without them, or maybe one or two that were well delivered. Watching in a dark room alone, that first segment (the best one imo), gave me my first spook-a-doodle of the month / 5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2018 14:01
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
I wanted to keep with first time watches but I've made a terrible mistake..  Swamp Thing (1982) Born in 1982 and 'Swamp Thing' was always a character I heard about, but never watched. Researching this movie after watching, I realize it's likely that the cartoon show and TV series were more responsible for the talk I heard at school, rather than this piece of poo poo I'm not going to bother summarizing it. It's an 80s action flick that stars a superhero (?) and features some of the most groan worthy dialog , stupid love story and typical 80s army-guys-shooting-things action. With little, cartoon-ish violence and no cursing, the extended boob scenes seem out of place. I'm guessing this movie was still banking on the 'PG or R' system to get adolescence boys into the theater. Without even the lens of nostalgia to view this through, this thing is a huge stinker. I'm kind of angry this is even tagged as 'horror' at IMDb and criticker, this story with any other superhero would just be action. But I’m counting it anyway. Because IMDb says so.... and dems the rules. / 5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2018 21:35
|
|
|
feedmyleg posted:The constant dismissive off-hand comments and the buxom mail girl didn’t really work back in the day, and it definitely doesn’t work now, regardless of how competent you try to make her. Fun trivia. I figured that girl was just someone looking to cash in some air time in hopes of catching a modeling contract or something. Nope, she's a full-on porn star and has been one for a while. This raises more questions to why she was chosen as the mail girl when, as you said, they didn't really need one. I don't know if you saw the other movies he hosted, but he really gets going on some rants that last forever, aren't funny and really don't add anything. JBB is great and I will watch everything he does, but someone does need to reel him in on some of his own ideas
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2018 23:14
|
|
|
LORD OF BOOTY posted:Motherfucker I have to try and find something from 1994, which to my knowledge was basically a dead zone for horror movies Brainscan Thanks for reposting that top horror list. I remember referring to it often last year.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2018 02:45
|
|
|
Mover posted:I'm looking at 1989 for horror and there's some good choices. CHUD 2 Bud the CHUD, The Church aka Demons 3, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Vampire's Kiss. I already did Santa Sangre this month and highly recommend it for any other 89s. I'm even curious about The Exorcist III, if only for cameos by Patrick Ewing and Fabio. If you haven't seen The Exorcist III , you need to like now
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2018 03:24
|
|
|
I generally like 70s and 80s gore, especially when you can laugh at it either by design or because it looks that hokey. I do not like hyper-realistic gore and usually pass on movies that seem like they are created just for this reason Excision was one of those until I read a glowing review earlier in this thread and thought I should maybe give it a try, and I’m glad I did. The movie is gory and definitely has some depraved moments, but they are essential to the plot and really give us a feel for the main character. I liked how the movie made us feel about Pauline as the movie progresses. I think most of us have known someone that kind of fits the characterization she portrays to others, which might be why I felt this movie had such character depth. I didn’t see the end as a ‘twist’ really, you knew something was coming. It was more like a low simmer slowly working its way to boil, but keeping the viewer unsure for the majority of the time A really good movie and a lot to think about /5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2018 21:34
|
|
|
enigmahfc posted:Youtube link just in case anyone is curious like I was about this film seemingly forgotten in time. I am a sucker for watching older obscure stuff on YT. It harkens back to the days of tuning in late to an unknown late night movie on TV. With the exception that YT movies seem like they are one deletion away from never being seen again (my hometown horror watch, The Wednesday Children seemed like this) I highly recommend searching for ‘full <decade> horror’ or just ‘full horror movies’ and going in blind to one that sounds interesting. Never know, you might find a gem
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2018 21:45
|
|
|
Getting caught up on a few films I missed doing write-ups on in the past few days, so pardon the scant accompanying reviews Count Dracula (1970) A retelling of the classic Dracula tale with a twist... Dracula starts off old and has to feast to grow younger. This is an interesting take on the story we know so well and with Jess Franco directing Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee, this has to be something, right? Turns out...it does not. Everything is kind of dull. Christopher Lee does the best he can, but just doesn't catch that Dracula magic of earlier. Klaus Kinski makes a good Renfield , but literally has no dialog and just eats flies (which according to trivia, were real flies even though they had props) . In addition to just being 'flat' , this movie just seems to drag on. Dracula shouldn't ever have a mustache / 5Night Of The Devils An Italian take on the novel The Family of the Vourdalak. A worthy movie, but falls short of the other, earlier movie which was based on the same book Black Sabbath /5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2018 01:14
|
|
|
Here is an IMDb list of the The 72 Video Nasties . Maybe letterboxd does too, but you can sort by rating or several others ways there It looks like The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) is the my highest rated unseen movie and it's on YT in acceptable quality Tubi TV recently added Anthropophagus under the title The Grim Reaper if anyone wanted to tackle that one
|
|
#
¿
Oct 6, 2018 00:19
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
"Do I look like I'm going to attack you??.... and I'm surrounded by all this radiation!"  Some scientists come up with a machine that emits radiation, killing all insects within a mile of it by causing them to become insane and kill each other. Despite saying the machine "only effects lower life forms, like animals and plants", the use of this machine has some unintended consequences as the recently dead are brought back to life. Once reanimated, the zombies can reanimate other dead through the use of living human blood (I don't know, just go with it) . They are also cannibals I went in with low expectations and was pretty impressed. The groaning noises the zombies make are notable and add creepiness to them. The movie has strong elements, a good plot and a message about technology let loose before it's actually been thoroughly studied. It's not the most tightly paced, some scenes are badly lit and the characters make some dumb choices, but it's all excusable / 5
Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Oct 6, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 6, 2018 13:57
|
|
|
Murder Party - Others here have covered it pretty well. I went into apprehensive but ended up really enjoying it. Video Dead  I discovered this movie on an unmarked VHS my dad had when I was way too young, so I have a special like for it. I'm glad it seemed like so many people saw it for the first time last night on the Stream. It's a cheap movie , but it does some unique things with the story and how it handles the zombies. Instead of doing the easy thing and making generic zombie #300, this movie just does whatever it feels like and it makes for a fun time /5 (includes nostalgia value)
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2018 15:32
|
|
|
The Mothman Of Point Pleasant 2017 documentary Seen on TubiTV I am a sucker for the Mothman. I grew up close enough to the area that I remember hearing stories about it, and always being fascinated by it. With that, I went into this brisk 67 minute documentary not expecting much but just a brief , quick summary like you can read in any number of books on the subject. I was surprised though, the movie does keep a quick pace, but it's never dull and follows a timeline that starts well before most other materials on the subject do. There were even several things I learned that were new to me Interviews, both in person and archival audio are presented by eyewitnesses and those close to them, are presented occasionally presented along with CGI re-enactments which (while done cheaply) work well enough as filler to go along with the grainy audio playing over top. Good modern day location shots, and plenty of archival photos, videos and interviews (some new to me) all make this a worthwhile documentary rather you are a Mothman junkie, or someone just hearing about it for the first time. The Silver Bridge collapse was so tragic to such a sparsley populated area, and I find it a shame that the 'supernatural events' surrounding it's collapse often put the devastation far onto the back burner. I have one book that goes into the how and why the bridge collapsed, and even some old 45 records that reflect how the disaster was addressed by folk music coming out of the region at the time. UFO's , mysterious creatures and 'men in black' all make for great campfire fodder, but the death of 46 people as their cars slowly submerged into that cold Ohio River water is a whole other kind of horror. I think this documentary does a good job of acknowledging this by showing rescue crews, aftermath images and talking to those that actually lost people they knew. Supernatural events or not, real, actual horror took place that December 15, 1967 in West Virginia /5
Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Oct 7, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2018 18:10
|
|
|
Guy Goodbody posted:Tonight I watched The Legend of Boggy Creek. I actually enjoyed this movie, it's just so unique and authentic. I'm not sure if you watched this as part of the JBB Drive-In series, but he added some trivia to the movie and his guest seemed to have a genuine interest in the movie. How this movie was filmed, by the people who were there wanting to tell the story, and the local following that got behind its making and release..... it's just a thing I'm not sure could happen in modern connected times, for better or worse.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2018 05:24
|
|
|
 Viy Wow, this movie is something. Clocking in at a brisk hour and 17 minutes, this movie follows a young priest who must preside over the wake of a witch, which involves spending three consecutive nights in a chapel alone with the corpse. This movie is great , the effects are great and the sound design is effect. I'm impressed and surprised I don't see this talked about more Also, allegedly the first horror movie filmed in the Soviet Union and based on a Ukraine folk tale. Highly recommended. On YT in good quality /5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2018 02:25
|
|
|
Sorry fellas , my fat fingers let my phone fall into water and I've been dealing with getting a new one the past few days, so I'm behind with my reviews Pet The plot and takes have been discussed quite a bit here and I don't really have much to add. I will give this movie points for being original, but this just isn't my type thing /5Piranha (78) This was actually really fun. An unashamed rip-off of Jaws, (it even starts with one of the stars playing a Jaws arcade game) Corman shows us what happens when some spooky US Military GMO-ed Piranhas get let loose and are rapidly approaching a summer camp , and the ocean! This fish attack scenes are funny, as are the sound they make when they attack. /5Watched ; Halloween 4, Night of the Devils, Ghost Stories, Swamp Thing, Count Dracula, Living Dead At Manchester Morgue, Murder Party, The Mothman Of Point Pleasant, Viy, Pet, Piranha (78) I usually have a safety buffer of 2-3 films by now, I need to get on it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2018 00:40
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
I was drawn between just counting one of multiple Italian films that I watch in October, or maybe some bonkers HK stuff like is popular, but just in time for this challenge, Atterados aka (Terrified) popped up on Shudder From Spain, this movie focuses on strange events that begin occurring in a small neighboorhood and the people that start investigating them. I felt this movie started off strong, but it quickly turned into what I would deem a 'redbox' movie. A designation that is marked is for movies that rely on the played out quick-jerky movements by the monster/ghost and jump scares. This movie attempts plenty creepy shots , but it's all stuff we have seen before and the make-up and effects are just generic at this point. The part with the boy at the table felt like it was interesting, but I'm not sure where they had to go with it, and I don't think the filmmakers knew either. The explanation at the end doesn't help at all in explaining earlier events. I was really sleepy when I watched this also, and the narrative that hops around somewhat didn't help. I should have stuck with the bad I know and watched something Italian. .5 / 5
Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Oct 12, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2018 04:24
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
Getting married in the middle of October has somewhat kicked my movie tallies rear end, but I'm back! Magic I didn't know where to go with this challenge, so I started checking for what movies qualified on my 'to watch' list and came across this odd piece. Directed by Richard Attenborough as his only horror (according to IMDb) , and starring Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret and Burgess Meredith, sounds good! The movie itself follows Corky (Hopkins) who is a failed magician that has taken up ventriloquism. As horror fans I think I can just stop here as you can probably fill out the rest of the summary and get it correct because it seems like a story we've seen told since at least the Twilight Zone Burgess Meredith nails it as the take-no-poo poo, seedy entertainment industry man and Anthony Hopkins gives it his all which was probably too much for a rather goofy movie. Ann-Margret is Ann-Margret and also topless, which kind of surprised me since shes someone I only know as the lady from Grumpy Old Men It is passable , but I wish they had something that could have been as good as it should have been. / 5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2018 20:08
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:I'm posting this one a little early so as to give everyone some time to figure it out. I went with one my friend has been telling me to watch for a long time;  A mute makeup artist working on a movie in Russia gets locked the studio after hours, becomes a witness to a snuff film being made and spends the rest of the movie being chased. This movie didn't do much for me. The promo material (as above) and this being listed everywhere as a 'horror' is rather deceptive. Only early on in this movie does anything in this movie represent horror and the movie grows goofier as it goes on. I can just imagine the creators excitement as they decide to portray the star as a mute and film it in Russia as a way to make this stand out from being what it is, an unremarkable 90s thriller . .5/ 5 I really need to get to watching some good stuff, I've seen some real stinkers this month. Speaking of.... Fermat's Room , watched on Scream Stream. I know this one has a fan base, but it just wasn't my thing. I found it rather aggravating and it felt like it went on too long. The mathematicians that were eager and quick-witted enough to solve the math riddles in the newspaper sure went out of their way to avoid solving any math riddles once the room started getting smaller, instead usually trying to figure out a way to defeat 4 Poseidon presses which I think we all know is a fools task . /5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 23, 2018 00:28
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
The Witch In The Window It's been covered in this thread a lot already , but I really enjoyed this. I felt the pacing was fine and it was hitting on all cylinders. I think my prejudices toward this movie also boosted this, as I expected something generic, but rather was met with something effective and rather original, even if the end was a little twisty. /5Franchescanado posted:
A perfect chance to watch this movie I've been meaning to for a while;  This carries the bonus of (I believe), the whole cast being deceased and my first silent horror of the season and wooo boy was it a fine one. Lon Chaney plays a villain who had his legs unnecessarily removed as a child. This injustice has led him to a life of crime and becoming the underworld boss who goes by the name 'Blizzard', looking for revenge as well as to loot the city of San Francisco. No, not just government buildings, but using tens of thousands of armed foreign migrants (hmm) he plans to loot the entire city.  This pre-code horror moved smooth enough for it's age and had some great camera/color/shadow work. Lon Chaney plays a great villain and the contraption he uses to appear legless is effective, but also has to be quite painful.  This film had some stiff competition that came out with it in 1920, but I still think it's worth a watch if this era is your thing. /5Up to date on Fran challenges again! Apologizes for the scant reviews, I'm going to try to give some beefier ones on the next few. Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Oct 24, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2018 23:38
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
There were several interesting to pick from (I'm still looking to fit in Doctor Butcher) but ultimately I went with ;  I am a sucker for Halloween and a sucker for anthologies, so I couldn't wait to start this one soon enough. The feature has ten segments and no wrap-around story, which I think was the best decision for this one. Some stories are better than the others, I particularly liked The Night Billy Raised Hell and Friday the 31st .Sweet Tooth was also a good strong opener. Even the one's I didn't care as much for (Ding Dong) were tolerable . Friday the 31st and Trick could be full features and I would watch the hell out of them Having said that, I'm not sure I will see this as an enduring seasonal favorite. I still find four segments to be the most that an anthology can pack together without becoming background party fodder (which there is nothing wrong with and this movie would be perfect for). I was going to pan this for having so many jump scares and loud sounds, but when I consider it as something that is intended to only be idly watched or dropped in and out of , I think it works fine. A fine movie that would probably be amazing in the right conditions / 5She Waits (1972) A made for TV movie featuring Patty Duke and Beulah Bondi (hey wait, wasn't she in 70s in like the 30s?) . The synopsis on most websites give some way, not that it would make a whole lot of difference , but in this feature , newlywed's Laura (Duke) and her husband are visiting his mother for the first time where Laura learns somethings about her husband with the help of his eccentric family. This movie is evenly paced, but it takes its time. It also takes place in very few locations, sometimes giving it the feeling of a play. I wasn't prepared for this as I started falling asleep several times and had to skip back. Despite this, the movie is pretty solid, competently made and solid throughout . Available for free on YT, and in the VHS quality that actually improves on the ambiance of movies like these, I recommend it if you are a fan of this kind of thing. .5 /5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2018 00:45
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:We're gonna do this last one a little early, since this weekend might be everyone's Halloween celebration. Another challenge with so many strong contestants that I wish I could watch again for the first time. I was about to pick something obscure and go with Volumes Of Blood, but I went with another one I have been avoiding...  Clownhouse Let's get this out of the way, for those that don't know, this movie is infamous for being the film where, behind-the-scenes, the writer/ director Victor Salva (spoiler for crimes on children) filmed himself sexually molesting a 12-year old actor, leading to a raid which turned up the evidence as well as "commercial" (???) videos and photos of child pornography . Salva was convicted and sentenced to 3 years in prison, but got out after 15 months and went on to direct Powder for the Disney corporation , then on to make Jeepers Creepers and several other movies you have probably heard of. Yeah. Despite all this, I found a copy of this I could watch for free (because gently caress supporting this guy in any way), and intended to set all of that stuff to the side and watch this movie without any prejudice. And...... it's not bad. It's not groundbreaking, but it works very well as a time passer and feels a hell of a lot like a full length Are You Afraid Of The Dark? episode. In this movie, a young boy, would gets creeped out at just about anything, has a 'bad feeling' and nightmares about the circus and it's clowns coming to town. Things escalate and we end up with the boy, and his two older brothers (props to Sam Rockwell playing the oldest, mean, brother) being left home alone for the night as the clowns close in. Feeling like an episode of AYAotD had its negatives in that it felt like a good portion of the movie could have been trimmed from the middle and it probably would have improved it. I believe Salva thinks he's building suspense when it is really just kind of aggravating. There is no mystery that the boys are eventually going to encounter the clowns, so packing near-miss after near-miss is less than exciting. Some of the near-misses also get aggravating because the clowns are right there . Knowing what was happening behind the scenes also made watching the unnecessary shots of the boys in their underwear , or even bare-assed, quite revolting. Taken on it's own merit, this movie is not bad and working as a first film, would make something that the director could show investors and be confident that he would be heard. Probably best be enjoyed by a group of kids having a sleepover, where I imagine it could be creepy. / 5And with that my Fran Challenges are COMPLETE  #1: Love Something You Hate - Halloween 4 #2: Queer Horror - Fear No Evil #3: Hometown Horror - The Wednesday Children #4: Worst of the Best / Best of the Worst - Deadly Friend #5: Birth of Horror - Swamp Thing #6: Video Nasties - The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue #7: The World Is A Scary Place - Terrified #8: Once In A Lifetime - Magic #9: Stranger Danger - Mute Witness #10: Fear and Now - The Witch In The Window #11: Dead & Buried - The Penalty #12: (Self-Described) Masters of Horror - Tales Of Halloween #13 - Film That Takes Place During Halloween - Clownhouse These were all first time watches for me, and the one I most enjoyed was The Witch In The Window. Any other time I would have given it to Tales of Halloween, it I went into Witch blind and became engrossed by it. The loser of the list ; Terrified . There were movies made a lot worse, and just overall worse movies, but Terrified had this hype that came with it (thanks to Shudder mainly) that made it a disappointment when it was a total flop. I loved these challenges, they gave me the motivation to watch some movies that have been setting on my watchlist a long time. I hope we see a return next year, as I think you dig deeper for themes we might discover some gems. Thanks Fran
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2018 22:33
|
|
|
Drive-In Massacre Some spoilers ahead , but I wouldn't dare spoil the ending for you. Two similar looking cop buddies are tasked with solving a rash of beheadings that happen at a drive in theater. Obviously ripping off a lot from both Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Town That Dreaded Sundown (which is weird since these both came out the same year), yet doing it's own thing which accumulates in an ending which I'm sure has most people cussing and throwing stuff at the screen. As much as it was influenced by the movies mentioned, it also feels like cartoons were a major inspiration. The characters, violence and situations are all very cartoonish. Cops, villains, the pervert and even the dim-witted help all fit a character just as you would expect them too. The violence is wacky and without much gore. A man doesn't notice his date has been beheaded until he moves the car and her head falls off. Other beheadings happen swiftly and with little blood. Credit here goes to the impossibly sharp and durable samurai sword(s) which take a head off with one low effort swing and leave a perfectly flat wound. These swords keep being used, and the cops recover one early on, but they remain fixated on finding the murder weapon. This is just another one of those cartoon logic things where the movie just wants us to pretend the killer has his sword and it can be in numerous places at one, or that the killer has a giant crate stamp ACME full of indestructible swords.  Villain (note giant cross villain's wear to show they aren't a villain)  The Pervert (note pin-ups tacked to living room wall... as perverts do) On top of this the film is of course riddled with other problems. I am really curious about how bad a scene had to be before the director would cut it. At one point, when the two cops are interrogating someone, one of the cops totally fumbles his line and forgets it. He gives a couple nervous glances to his partner, then remembers his line and they just leave all that in the movie. There is also a part toward the end of the movie were they get a call that the killer has been cornered in a warehouse and has a hostage. Naturally, our two cops also serve as the towns hostage rescue team as they go barreling into the warehouse. Here again we find a very cartoon like setup where the suspected killer is chasing his young female captive and the cops are chasing him. At one point they are so close to having the classic impossible-inner connected room pursuit scene where one person will chase the other in and out of rooms that are across the hallway from each other. This all seems like it takes forever and ends with the cop catching the killer in the open, yelling 'FREEZE' , then shooting him despite him having froze. They start patting themselves on the back when the girl who was hostage comes up and gives an emotionless explanation that the man they just shot was her dad and he was just released from the mental hospital that morning and he had killed her mom and her aunt. I feel like I should also mention the lighting;  I'm not really recommending you watch this in these days close to Halloween when you should be watching actual good movies.. but I liked this. It's aggravating and really stupid, but it moves quick (with the exception of the warehouse scene) and has the balls to go with the ending that it did. Without a doubt, a good- bad movie /5
Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Oct 28, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2018 15:41
|
|
|
I've been binge watching movies this whole dreary day, and it's been great. Zombie Holocaust aka Doctor Butcher M.D.(Medical Deviant) I got what I expected from Kvlt! as his staff pick. This movie starts with bodies at NYC morgues being discovered mutilated and cannibalized. The staff trace this to migrants in the area who come from a little island near Africa. A group is ensembled and sent to investigate and things get crazy. The gore effects are nice and the story is wacky but coherent. This movie falls in a weird place. It's not one I've really heard of before, either for it's importance or it's gore, but it also isn't a horrible movie. I am going to guess the gore didn't go far enough (which isn't a critique, I think it fits how it is), and it's release date was unfortunate as horror and gore fans probably flocked to Cannibal Holocaust over this. As with Drive-In Massacre, this is another movie I felt sure was a rip-off of an earlier, more popular film, but it came out the same year as said film. Not a bad movie, but not really my cup of tea .5 / 5 Legacy Of Blood - Elvira's Movie Macabre The timeless story of a family who is gathered together to hear the reading of a will, and are then forced to spend time (in this case a week) together in the house in order to inherit the fortune. This movie also adds the house staff who stand to split $1m between themselves, but if all of the family members die over that week, they inherent something like $180m. I can't tell you a lot more about this movie beside it was a slog. Maybe the most difficult movie to grind through yet this month. The red herring and the twist are probably two things you have already figured out by reading my two sentence summary. / 5I'm surprised , but if you go by my movies watched this month Tubi > Shudder . I mean, I've feel like I got my $5 worth, and the JBB are worth more than that to me alone, but if I had to pick to keep one or the other, it would probably be Tubi. Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Oct 28, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2018 22:09
|
|
|
I loved that they didn’t turn down any prop or material given to them, including stock footage of a volcano erupting just outside the cave (inside inner earth?), then it’s never mentioned again. At other times the movie is self aware enough to ask questions such as “how is there daylight inside the earth” which is answered with “ I dunno”
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2018 12:17
|
|
|
Can someone repost the gif JetpackJeezus made from Street Trash where the shoplifter has the paper bag on his head and struts right through the glass door? I’ve been laughing about that since we watched that movie
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2018 00:08
|
|
|
I decided I needed one more silent spook-a-doodle this month, so...  (that's a really great poster imo) D.W. Griffiths' The Avenging Conscience A 6-reeler ! ' Despite how daunting that sounds, this movie 'only' clocks in at 1'18" , certainly not the directors longest feature. But that's [OK! This movie doesn't do a whole lot of anything until about 45 minutes in, when the spoiled 'The Nephew' (no one has a name in this) has had enough of his Uncle's unwavering care and decides to strangle him since he is keeping him from his love interest. Nephew bricks his uncle up in the fireplace and from here it turns into 'The Tell-Tale Heart' , with the notable difference that it isn't just growing paranoia and frights at noises in the night slowly driving Nephew crazy, he almost immediately starts seeing his Uncle's apparition . Then he really looses it  This movie drags a lot and doesn't have enough cool imagery to make up for it. Thanks to culture beyond the saturation point with Poe influenced media, this movie didn't have much to offer me. But probably most remarkable thing, as often hits me with movies this age, is that this thing is 104 years old. No matter how many I see, that is amazing. I can't help but think of the people I'm seeing, especially the toddlers or babies and think of what kind of life they must have lived after this, and knowing that if nothing else got them, they more than likely died of old age decades ago. So this hum-ho Poe story becomes a meditation on mortality and how time is the great equalizer, given enough time depending on who you are. It sounds like something Poe would have like to accomplished, but maybe not in the manner in which he did. /5And with this I have COMPLETED ( ) my hard-level challenge of 31 first-watches in October! But the month isn't over yet ! That means more time for classics and time on Halloween to get my candy on and hang with my boys in the scream stream , bidding this month farewell through both smiles and a tear. Thank you all for a great month. Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Oct 30, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2018 03:10
|
|
|
Trying to pick up a few I missed reviewing...  I was apprehensive about this one, but kept hearing it was a good Halloween movies, and it was free on Tubi, so I jumped in. This movie starts out really well. I found the 80s aesthetic, the story and all the elements were a good tone, but then the movie goes on. The 'rules' of Halloween are laid out, which is an interesting concept and things remain fascinating until the last 25%. Actually, it's more of an incline into be a not-good movie rather than it just turns bad. It feels like the director was like "I dunno... I think it's needs more" , when it was actually fine. The blood and gore drastically increase and even 'THE 80s" increases as 'cigarette burns' and other VHS blips start occurring. It's an ok movie. I'm kind of disappointing that it didn't keep the sweet momentum that it started with. /5 Slumber Party Massacre 2 This movie is loving bonkers and I loved it. It's all for nothing and feels like a colossal waste of time, but dammit, this is REAL 80s poo poo. Guitars, greasers , boobs and violence. Even an all female "sleepover" that goes the way every 13 year old boy thinks they do. .5 / 5The Phatom Empire Want to use this 1950s robot? SURE Want to use this moon vehicle from Logans Run? FUGG YES Want to use some stock footage of a volcano erupting? YES YES YES... GIVE ME IT ALL  ?? how do you rate this?! / 5Demonic Toys Fell asleep half way through the stream, and finally finished this. A random group of people come together in a warehouse by random incident . Dolls come alive and attack. This movie is just a lot of fun. The toys are wicked looking, but also mean. Some good physical comedy and a movie that just has fun with what it is without becoming a parody of itself. / 5
|
|
#
¿
Oct 31, 2018 00:57
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 12:54 |
|
|
blood_dot_biz posted:#12: The Beyond (1981) It’s always great to see someone discover this movie and like it so much . It’s also my favorite Fulci. It’s not “”good”” , but it’s one you pop in and turn your brain off. It has what is probably my favorite soundtrack and that awesome cover (depicting something that never happens in the movie of course , as per horror tradition) You should follow this up with The House By The Cemetery. It’s very similar to The Beyond in its composure. Of course if you get this deep into it you might as well finish the trilogy with City Of The Living Dead. These are a trilogy only in that they maybe exist in the same dream-universe, so watching them out of order isn’t a problem .
|
|
#
¿
Oct 31, 2018 14:10
|
|
