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Dagon is the only movie I've already seen from this week's matchups, so I'm excited to see some new stuff!
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Jun 25, 2021 14:24
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I think both Dagon and Body Snatchers are really good despite their flaws. Body Snatchers takes a new approach than the original two, and smartly incorporates the United States and 1990’s military. It’s the best thing a remake can do, cuz it has zero interest in associating with the original too, which are both classics on their own, and is just interested in putting the premise somewhere new. Dagon’s not as good as Re-animator or From Beyond. It has some ugly CGI in the beginning, but that’s totally forgiven by the costuming, set design, sound design and weirdness. I don’t know a better film of Lovecraft’s Innsmouth. I really like it. Probably going Body Snatchers.
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Jun 25, 2021 17:37
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My issue with Body Snatchers when I watched it for one of the challenges was that yes, the military aspect was interesting thematically but it also made for a pretty bland setting. Mostly just military barracks and whatnot, and I don't remember it being shot in any particularly stylish way so it just felt kinda flat visually.
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Jun 25, 2021 17:44
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Franchescanado posted:I think both Dagon and Body Snatchers are really good despite their flaws. I just finished Dagon, and I'm pretty much in this camp. I think both movies are a good time, but I liked Body Snatchers more. I didn't know Dagon was going to be Innsmouth going into it, but that was a fun surprise.
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Jun 25, 2021 18:38
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Dagon vs. Body Snatchers is a secret Stuart Gordon double bill, as Gordon co-wrote the screenplay for Body Snatchers alongside long-time collaborator Dennis Paoli and Ferrara's writing partner Nicholas St. John, it also includes a story credit for one Larry Cohen. For me, Body Snatchers loses a lot of the punk energy present in Ferrara's other works, and its release soon after possibly his best film, Bad Lieutenant, leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I would also draw everyone's attention to the masterful performance from Meg Tilly, sister of Jennifer. Her turn from an unsuspecting homemaker and mother, to a sociopathic alien entity, is remarkably striking, and underpins the true drama and horror of the film. Having not rewatched either film as of yet, my current thoughts are leaning toward Dagon. While Body Snatchers is doubtlessly the more interesting and accomplished film, it doesn't quite stand out for me as a unique and complete vision in the same way Dagon is, and the goop is better.
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Jun 25, 2021 22:24
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Needs More Goop posted:Dagon vs. Body Snatchers is a secret Stuart Gordon double bill, as Gordon co-wrote the screenplay for Body Snatchers Between that and linking a spanish version of a movie I am doing a half rear end job here.
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Jun 25, 2021 22:28
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I’ve seen both Dagon and Body Snatchers relatively recently, so I’m not going to rewatch them. I’m also in the camp of thinking that Dagon is “pretty decent” and not getting the fuss about Body Snatchers. Body Snatchers had huge boots to fill for me since the ‘78 Invasion of the Body Snatchers is both the first horror movie I ever saw and the first horror movie I ever saw in the theater. I found the military base setting bland compared to the funk of 1978 San Francisco, and for me the ‘93 version lacks the relatability and paranoia of the ‘78 version. So I’m voting for Dagon in this matchup.
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Jun 26, 2021 13:47
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STAC Goat posted:Ok, now I legitimately feel like I failed at my job for not identifying that trick of the Random Number Generator. You're doing amazing, sweetie
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Jun 26, 2021 19:10
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Needs More Goop posted:You're doing amazing, sweetie I know STAC is always being super humble to the point of self deprecation, but you're really doing an amazing job here and everyone appreciates it.
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Jun 26, 2021 22:08
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married but discreet posted:I know STAC is always being super humble to the point of self deprecation, but you're really doing an amazing job here and everyone appreciates it.
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Jun 26, 2021 22:13
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married but discreet posted:I know STAC is always being super humble to the point of self deprecation, but you're really doing an amazing job here and everyone appreciates it. 
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Jun 26, 2021 22:25
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married but discreet posted:I know STAC is always being super humble to the point of self deprecation, but you're really doing an amazing job here and everyone appreciates it.  spookyquote
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Jun 27, 2021 01:50
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married but discreet posted:I know STAC is always being super humble to the point of self deprecation, but you're really doing an amazing job here and everyone appreciates it.
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Jun 27, 2021 05:16
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You're all too sweet. 4. Stuart Gordon’s Dagon vs. 5. (Deb’s The NYC Grime Connection) Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers The best way I can think to describe Dagon is as a really good Brian Yuzna film. For Yuzna I don't expect a lot. He's good at practical effects and settings but bad at all that storytelling stuff. So I tend to see his films as a few big scenes and moments with some story filler to round it out. Gordon I expect a fuller film from and I do think this was better than the recent Spanish Yuzna productions we've watched but that's a low bar for me. I find the entire first half of the film very dull and disengaging and then the last act story twist is just kind of gratuitous and unnecessary. If the boring lead had spent less time running around by himself and more time interacting with people I probably would have engaged more. The last act is solid to good. The whole temple aesthetic is great. The CGI and story stuff less so. But it ends reasonably strong and I didn't hate it either. But I can't say I enjoyed my watch either. Not all of it. There's maybe an hour of good movie in this 90 minutes? But its not an hour continuously so... On the flip side I really liked Body Snatchers a ton. I love the cast that all looks way younger than I realized they could ever be. Like holy crap, Forest Whitaker looks young. I love the goop and effects of the pod people and husks. I love that the film isn't afraid to give the big punch when the story dictates it. Most of all I really love the tense, paranoid, sinister feeling the film has. That's there before the pod people stuff ever really reveals itself. The dude in the bathroom. The MP surrounding a teenager threateningly because she absent mindedly wandered into a restricted zone. The wild teenager living with a psycho dad and alcoholic mom. There's a part of the story that could be a key problem but I think actually makes it work and that's the romance between the teenage girl and the grown soldier. There's something clearly hosed up about that but I don't think the movie ignores that. The moment they kiss isn't romantic or sexy. Its them laughing asking silly questions until she asks a question she didn't think through and he confesses to killing people. She's clearly shaken and he clearly isn't. The acting, the music, and the framing of the scene all scream something sinister and dangerous about this. She's a horny teenage girl so it doesn't stop her but this situation is hosed up. This whole base is hosed up. It kind of reminded me of Near Dark and the very effective way Kathryn Bigelow set the mood of danger and nothing good in this small Texas town. I felt the same dread in Ferrara's army base and it made the film for me. In a way I didn't feel it in Gordon's wet town even though he was trying hard to make me feel it. But a lot of that also has to do with the characters and stakes. And holy poo poo, how good was that Meg Tilly speech scene? How scary is it that the pod people's second plan after getting you in your sleep is to just gaslight you and send you into an existential depression? If I have one criticism its that the back half feels like its missing something storywise. I'm not sure what but it feels like it gets to the end a bit abruptly. Like there's a couple of scenes missing or something. Its not a deal breaker or anything and doesn't make things confusing or anything. It just felt a little off in the pace of the story. But considering Dagon's pacing issues it still comes out ahead there. Besides, Gordon wrote the Body Snatchers script so really its kinda his fault. So yeah, I'm voting Body Snatchers. I don't hate Dagon. I expect it will make it really close if not win outright. But Body Snatches is a better film to me top to bottom. It even matches Gordon on the goopy stuff. Easy vote for me. edit: Comparing Body Snatchers, no, its probably not better than the 70s one but I don't care. I'm judging on its own and I actually think the 50s, 70s, and 90s versions are all distinct enough in setting and story that it kind of feels less like remakes and more like 3 similar stories about the same alien invasion in 3 different times and places. Just one big big picture of sequels or something. That's how I like to see it. STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Jun 28, 2021 |
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Jun 28, 2021 19:58
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I'm having a tough time with Zulawski vs. Amirpour. On the one hand, The Devil is another Zulawski film that feels like a sprawling epic and it really does deliver some visuals that are stunning. On the other hand, I didn't find the story to be as compelling as On The Silver Globe and I found myself pretty lost at certain points. But another thing in the plus column for The Devil is that it was only 2 hours, which is an improvement for Zulawski. So I dunno, it was a mixed bag. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night for me is just a bit too slow and while the cinematography is beautiful it never really draws me in or surprises me or makes me feel....anything to be honest. Which isn't all that different than my experience with The Devil, which is why this is a dilemma. I might end up voting for Zulawski just so we can get another one of his films next round, but maybe not. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night does have the advantage of being 20 minutes shorter, and so it feels more streamlined and less meandering. It does what it sets out to do, gets in and gets out, which I always appreciate. At this moment I really don't know which way I'll vote.
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Jun 29, 2021 14:20
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I liked The Devil a lot and agree with most of what you said. I did find it a little bit slow in the middle and the protagonist was really flat. So for those reasons, I'm probably voting the other way. I think Zulawski makes some incredible stuff, but nothing from The Devil stuck with me the same way that the White Lies-soundtracked scene in AGWHAAN did
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Jun 29, 2021 15:02
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Stuart Gordon’s Dagon vs. 5. (Deb’s The NYC Grime Connection) Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers I think I'm actually leaning towards Body Snatchers in this matchup. It took me a little while to figure out exactly what I didn't like about Body Snatchers and I think I'm actually okay with it. The first scream of recognition is amazing and feels like really nice reference to the 1978 version. Then they keep doing it. Over and over. But it's fine. I also enjoyed the first time one of the pod people tried to trick one of the protagonists, even though it didn't seem like a pod person thing to do. This nice little moment was also repeated. Dagon is a scrappy and wet and grimy movie but I don't find myself thinking about it the way I do with Body Snatchers. (STAC Goat’s Team Ladies Night) Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night vs 16. (TrixRabbi's Andrzej Żuławski & Other Pole) Andrzej Żuławski’s The Devil This is going to be a much harder decision. It's weird to say but the The Devil feels like the big-budget juggernaut with A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night as the indie underdog. I have no idea if their relative budgets bear this out or not. Both movies are beautiful but I think I connected with AGWHAAN a little more. I did watch The Devil more recently so I probably need to stew on it a bit.
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Jun 29, 2021 19:53
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I went with Dagon, but it was close enough to a coin toss for me. On the other side I felt A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was a more enjoyable film than Diabel. That's not to see Diabel was bad, I actually thought it was great and there's some incredible craftsmanship on display. However, A Girl Walks was a bit more accessible and didn't give me the overly long feel I got from Diabel.
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Jun 29, 2021 20:06
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twernt posted:(STAC Goat’s Team Ladies Night) Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night vs 16. (TrixRabbi's Andrzej Żuławski & Other Pole) Andrzej Żuławski’s The Devil A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night was actually crowd funded for under $57K. So its definitely AN indie underdog. Then again Diabel got banned by the Polish government so that's kind of underdoggy too.
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Jun 29, 2021 20:10
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STAC Goat posted:A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night was actually crowd funded for under $57K. So its definitely AN indie underdog. 
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Jun 29, 2021 23:48
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The Devil had a pretty substantial budget. In Poland at that time the government put together production companies for filmmaking and the company Zulawski worked with to make The Devil was a fairly new one that was headed up by a really prominent guy who later went on to be given an honorary Oscar(Andrzej Wajda). So I don't know a specific number but they definitely pumped a good amount of money into The Devil. So in typical fashion, the government funded a movie and then once it was finished and they didn't like it they banned it.
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Jun 30, 2021 00:51
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Oh poo poo, its that time of the week again, isn't it? You can still vote or change your vote until 3 AM EST July 2nd (or when I wake up) which means there's about 37 hours or so to get any movies in. I'll be trying to sneak in The Devil and A Girl Has A Long Title today if I can stay conscious.
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Jun 30, 2021 18:52
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lol no way you're able to stay conscious through both of those movies. Good luck!
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Jun 30, 2021 19:17
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I've never fully watched Girl Walks Home cuz I fall asleep every time. It's so quiet and slow, and I always watch it late at night after smoking weed.
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Jun 30, 2021 19:50
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I didn’t really understand The Devil or Girl Walks Home, but I was more engaged watching The Devil (constant histrionics vs the mellow vibe of Girl) so it gets my vote.
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Jul 1, 2021 01:31
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I just finished A Girl and I really kind of loved it. I kind of want to watch it again instead of The Devil, which every indication is I'm gonna hate it. I'm still gonna try and watch it tonight or tomorrow but I have a hard time seeing my not vote for A Girl. Its so cool and sexy and vibey. This weird modern Persian spaghetti western vampire story. The story actually feels very simple and straight forward to me so I'm surprised some had a hard time understanding it. I do think there's a lot of depth to the characters and Bad City though and the film kind of just drops you in there and leaves you free to discover it on your own instead explaining it with a lot of exposition or dialogue. That could have flopped hard for me it worked. It really, really worked.
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Jul 1, 2021 01:44
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Yeah, so I watched The Devil last night and as aspected i just didn't really get it or enjoy it. Its well made and all but very plodding and I really don't know what the point of it was besides this dude having a lot of sexual hangups. Maybe I'm missing key historical context or metaphor and maybe that's on me. I dunno. But if its there it went over my head entirely. So easy vote for A Girl for me.
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Jul 1, 2021 18:51
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STAC Goat posted:Maybe I'm missing key historical context or metaphor and maybe that's on me. The bit with the Prussians partitioning Poland and the puppet king seemed like an obvious allegory to the Soviets and the puppet communist regime in Poland. What some of the other stuff, like the troupe, was a specific reference to, I don’t know. I guess the conclusion is basically that the political situation in Seventies Poland is completely dire, what with the one sincere revolutionary being completely ruined and compromised. The fellow members of his cadre have all sold out to the invaders.
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Jul 2, 2021 00:40
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Devil Oooh Zulawski I thought you were going to pull a Russell, but then this movie is sort of, just good but not amazing. It’s dense, it’s imaginative, it reminds me of a deranged version of one of my favourite movies ever, Barry Lyndon. It starts out great, I love (like in Silver Globe) the use of the handheld camera, really looking back there’s nothing that I disliked about the movie. But remembering it, it just wasn’t gripping me. There’s something missing from it and I can’t say what it is. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night A, to be quite honest, largely boring movie that occasionally comes together to create individual scenes that are absolute fire. The main visual motif of the hijab-wearing vampire Girl is of course very good, whenever she stalks someone is great. But what’s really outstanding is any scene with her and Arash. Their chemistry is just amazing, the way the look at each other, when they meet in the street, in the bedroom, in the car. So I’m constantly on the verge of the movie completely losing me, then pulling me back in with an amazing scene, then I’m back to zoning out again. Thankfully it ends on a high note, and the cat really helps it along too. So I’m stuck between a solidly good but not great movie that’s not really a homerun, and a movie that’s really boring to me but then just completely enchants me, multiple times, before letting me go again. I’m a sucker so I’ll vote Girl I guess. I’m sorry. Body Snatchers Sort of echoing my feelings on Girl, but neither hitting the same lows or same highs of that movie. It’s pretty alright but nothing outstanding until it drops something really good on you like the kindergarten drawing scene or Tilly’s speech, then it goes back to normal. Sadly somehow ends up less than the sum of its parts, and I’m really missing the usual Abel Ferrara touch. It’s so conventionally well done, I dunno. Dagon A movie that’s way better than it has any right to be. Right from the start it looks bad and cheap and the lead is an unlikeable twerp, but then it ends up just oozing wet goopy atmosphere and it’s just plain fun to watch everything that’s happening on screen. Way too much is explained than what would normally be good, but it works cause it’s fun to see an overly revelatory flashback, and it’s fun to see the the sexy seas sister explain her plan, yeah I like this movie a lot despite what could count as flaws. Dagon it is, even though I hate to see Ferrara out. Both votes against the teams I’m rooting for, huh.
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Jul 2, 2021 04:14
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I had much the same reaction but went with Diabel instead. Although I think I started out kind of hating A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and consider it almost impressive it took me from there to being okay with it. Diabel was interesting and watchable the whole way through.
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Jul 2, 2021 06:15
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Lets finish up this round!  A VERY close one but Stuart Gordon just barely wins this one as Dagon picks up one more vote than Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers (1 vote also once again being the number of absentees that could have drawn this even). That sends Ferrara out in the second round after a big win with Ms. 45 in the first round, one round better than last year, and sends his NYC Grimes Connection teammate Frank Henenlotter home without drawing any films. On the other side for once not only does one of my teams win but does it pretty decisively as Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night rolls past The Devil. Zulawaski certainly made an impression on voters and had some predicting him to be this year’s possible Cinderella run to the championship like Ken Russell last year, but despite his partner racking up an extra win in the play in rounds he becomes the 3rd Play In to get eliminated (and the first that wasn’t one of my teams). That sends my Ladies Night team into the Sweet Sixteen for a big clash of styles with the legendary Gordon. That should be an interesting one to see the draws. Stats wise the only real change is Zulawski picking up enough votes to sneak into the Top 5. This is a kind of moot thing since he’s sure to be knocked out sooner than later with no chance to pick up more votes, but he achieved it for at least one week so his name goes on the board. Ok, lets get to the last of our second round matches! 2. Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace vs. 7. Roger Corman’s Tower of London  Its two major names and both drew big guns. Corman’s back with his favorite leading man Vincent Price but instead of a story taken from the works of Edgar Allen Poe this time they’re doing Shakespeare! Kinda. Ok, maybe this isn’t a big gun for him. It was a 15 day shoot and apparently a production mess of rewrites and studio interference and killed a deal Corman had mad with the studio. But how can you not be a little excited for Price playing Richard III in a horror film? Of course Bava has a true big gun as Blood and Black Lace is so famously talked up as on of the greatest giallos that it was the first of its sub genre that even I saw. Its also probably one of the few giallo films i personally can at least see value in or enjoy somewhat. So this might really be a done deal but I’m hoping Corman can make this one a fun double feature at least. Blood and Black Lace is on Fandor and Flix Fling and free on Tubi in the US and on Youtube Tower of London is on DailyMotion 3. George Romero’s Land of the Dead vs. 6. (STAC Goat’s The Ghostbeaters) Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected vs. 14. Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23  This matchup could have been Night of the Living Dead vs Return of the Living Dead vs Lost Boys. But the random number generator giveth and taketh away. Ah well. Romero does draw one of his Dead films but still not the original. Land isn’t the worst of them but its generally considered firmly in the middle Day got him eliminated last year despite being a much more popular one so will he have better luck this time? O’Bannon is of course known for Return but he directed exactly one other film in his career. Its pretty obscure and sounds pretty cheap and not great, but cheap, goopy Lovecraft adaptions have had some good luck in this tournament. Last but not least is Schumacher who continues to test the genre limits with a conspiracy thriller that seems pretty polarizing but once again, conspiracy stuff has gone over well here. So this feels like a big toss up. No clear cut favorite here but a lot of little clues that something might become an underdog favorite. Guess we’ll have to see how it shakes out and hope one winner comes through this time. Sequel Alert: Land of the Dead is of course the 4th Romero Dead film following Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. There’s a couple of others after but they’re not of concern here. Of course you’re a horror fan so you’ve seen them. We’ve even played Dawn and Day in Bracketology last year. And truthfully there’s no real continuity in these movies besides the general state of the world. Its not hard for you to catch up even if you haven’t seen the first three films, although you might miss a cool reference or two. But they are classics and always worth a watch if its been awhile. Night of the Living Dead is public domain so its pretty much everywhere. Like seriously… Amazon, HBO, Paramount, Peacock, Shudder… and all the free apps. You could stream it legally if you wished. Dawn of the Dead is on Youtube Day of the Dead is on HBOMax, DirectTV, and FlixFling and free on Kanopy and Pluto. Land of the Dead is on AMC+ and free on Peacock in the US. The Resurrected is on The Internet Archive The Number 23 is free on Tubi in the US. That’s our week and… oh right, one more question this week…  Looks like most people either feel like we could use a break or are just kind enough to give me permission to take one. So after this round we’ll take one week off before starting the Sweet Sixteen… or Eighteen on July 16th. Its gonna be two threeway match ups first up right after the three way here so really I think the break works out well instead of us having a 5 movie week followed by a 6 movie week. Or maybe I’m just rationalizing that I’m a little burnt out and could use a week to kind of catch up and maybe tweak the stats and see if I could dream up some new stuff. No promises but I tinker. But we got this week to go and 5 films to watch during it! Vote or change your vote until 3 AM EST July 9th (or when I wake up) Bracket & Noms Spreadsheet Letterboxd List Next Week! SUMMER VACAY! And then the Sweet Sixteen…ish.
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Jul 2, 2021 08:05
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Sad to see Zulawski go, but then again I voted against him. The gently caress the rules anarchist in me is delighted to see Joel Schumacher (who I nominated) continuously drawing movies that aren't quite what you'd call horror. And Bava is drawing one of the few movies of his that I actually like, so I think while Italian horror has fared terribly in this tourney, at least he's going to make sure it's not entirely trashed. married but discreet fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jul 3, 2021 |
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Jul 2, 2021 13:44
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I think The Resurrected could easily win this. I think it's the best film out of the three and it'll probably also benefit from being a bit of a surprise to some people. Land of the Dead is decent but it's not gonna surprise anybody.
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Jul 2, 2021 13:52
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The Resurrected is a hidden gem of a horror movie.
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Jul 3, 2021 17:06
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I wasn’t blown away by The Resurrected. Not that it wasn’t enjoyable, but I just didn’t get a rush from it— especially the whole catacombs sequence didn’t engage me the way I felt like it maybe could have. I’m actually voting for Romero here, mostly out of my fandom for the Dead movies. Land of the Dead was a disappointment for me back in 2005 as a follow up to the original Dead trilogy, but it had ambition and it’s not bad in comparison to the Dead movies that followed. As far as Blood and Black Lace versus Tower of London goes, Tower of London didn’t work for me nearly as well as Corman’s Poe movies do; whereas Blood and Black Lace is beautifully filmed, with one particular kill sequence that I still think about all the time (the one with the mirror and the spiked glove). So Bava gets it handily for me this week.
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Jul 4, 2021 05:21
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2. Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace vs. 7. Roger Corman’s Tower of London I’ve seen enough Roger Corman at this stage that I get him. I get that he was a good director but that he also wasn’t afraid to churn out something fast, cheap, and dirty for a quick buck or just for fun. Tower of London definitely feels like one of those. Filmed in 2 weeks on a budget this seems to be as simple as “Let Vincent Price carry it.” Remember when you were in school and you didn’t actually read the Shakespeare play but just skimmed some stuff hoped you can BS your way through the presentation? Corman feels like he’s got a jumbled mess of half memories from his Shakespeare studies and he’s banking on Price being able to just make it work. And he does. As a one man play Price kills here. He is the king of evil villains descending into madness. But everything else about the film is just there… barely. If Price isn’t monologuing its tough care. And Price monologues a lot so it mostly works. But the story also has no life and ends all weird. Its probably the 3rd best film of the week but its a kind of rough week. I watched Blood and Black Lace back in February and it was the second or third time I did. I don’t really enjoy it so I don’t really feel like rewatching it. Still its a good enough film that its probably got my vote. I hate giallo but along with Bay of Blood Mario Bava has twice made a foundational film of a sub genre I hate and actually made a good film that isn’t guilty of the sort of reductive and derivative flaws of the sub genre it inspired. Its gorgeous and its mystery, plot, and characters actually make sense and aren’t just there as an excuse for violence and twists. If Tower of London had done more I might have rewatched this to see how it went, but I don’t feel like i need to. I doubt my vote will make a huge difference but Bava has it. 3. George Romero’s Land of the Dead vs. 6. (STAC Goat’s The Ghostbeaters) Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected vs. 14. Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23 I hated The Number 23. Just really hated it. A stupid, nonsensical, mess of a film that really felt like it was smart. It wastes the hell out of a good performance by Virginia Madsen trying to keep the thing grounded and a good supporting cast of players who could have just made a good noir film. But it sucked. Super sucked. The Resurrected was ok but flawed. It definitely captured the feel of a Lovecraft adaption and that investigation into madness. But that also made for a pretty slow and dry journey. I actually kind of liked the lead and his Scooby Gang investigation but it either needed to be 20 minutes shorter or there needed to be more wizard and zombie horror to keep the film moving and alive. I wasn’t bored or anything but it feels longer than it is and while the payoff is fun its not quite worth the build. I think its a really interesting film a horror history sense because O’Bannon’s had a pretty amazing career of writing like half a dozen cult classics or great films and directing one of the greatest horrors. And this is his only other film. And that’s weird and curious. And its clear there was production drama and maybe O’Bannon just didn’t like that mess or wasn’t up to dealing with it. But its a curious little film that isn’t half bad, but isn’t really all there either. Land of the Dead is one of those films I’ve seen a dozen times and I while I didn’t really have a lot to say about it coming in it did feel like it could win this one by default. But this time I actually kind of stumbled on an angle that elevated the film for me. It was mostly some snarky comment I made about how everyone in the film kept getting into these face-offs and then kept getting disarmed real easy. Then I realized that made sense, because why the gently caress would any of these people want to die for this bullshit? As I thought about it more I started to realize that the film is basically a western but with the key motivation of westerns removed. The romanticism of the wild west is the freedom and opportunity. Start a new life, get free from your problems, start a new business, find a plot of land, discover some gold. Everyone heading west was seeking a better life and the gunslingers were people willing to kill for it. Here we’ve got a bunch of gunslingers in a lawless land but there’s no opportunity. Everyone’s just trying to survive. So when someone tells them to go do X they do it, when someone says “we’re doing Y” they do it. enemies keep becoming allies because they have no actual reason to be enemies and no real motivation besides survival. Cholo is the one guy actually doing the western thing of trying to collect his gold by any means and make a better life for himself. And everyone tells him that’s a pipe dream and a lie but he keeps pushing it while everyone else just goes with the tide and takes the opportunities presented to them. Now maybe I made all that up? Maybe its just some nonsense I threw on the film because I’ve been watching a bunch of westerns? But its enough to elevate a film I’ve always liked but didn’t know why and felt was a little shallow compared to its predecessors to one that actually feels like it has more depth and stuff going on than any other film this week. So it easily wins this matchup for me.
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Jul 6, 2021 05:18
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My decisions this week were really easy but I have to say that I really enjoyed Tower of London. It's the type of movie that I see once and it instantly vaults into my "yearly" October viewing list(I use quotations because that list now has like 50+ movies on it so I don't actually get to them all every year). Sure, Price is Price and he is the engine that runs the whole thing. But I thought Corman's ability to make something great with very little resources really shone through and as a result the movie is oozing with that classic spooky atmosphere that I love. Torches and candles in almost every scene, period costumes, Shakespearean dialogue, you really can't beat it. Well, you can't beat it if you're a mere mortal. Good thing Bava is a horror god then, because Blood and Black Lace is, for me, the perfect giallo. The plot is intricate because in classic giallo fashion every character seems to have a seedy back story that they're trying to keep secret. Everyone has a motive to act suspicious, even if they aren't guilty of the murders. Visually this is straight-up one of the best looking films ever made, period. In any genre. The music is excellent. If there's one aspect that isn't a 10/10 it's the characters, because there isn't really a central protagonist or someone like say, Daria Nicolodi in Deep Red who you latch onto and root for. But that hardly matters in the end because set piece after set piece is a visual feast and it never lets up. Each scene is more beautiful than the last. So I knew I was voting Bava going in because Blood and Black Lace is probably a top-20 horror movie of all time whereas Tower of London is merely great. But if someone did vote for Corman here I wouldn't be mad at all. In the other matchup it mostly came down to just not being particularly fond of Romero(at least not the way some people are) and also I happen to really like The Resurrected and specifically Chris Sarandon. A few years ago I discovered The Resurrected around the same time that I watched Fright Night for the first time and Sarandon stuck out to me as someone who probably deserves a higher status as a genre actor than he typically gets. Between Child's Play and Fright Night, then throw in an underseen gem like The Resurrected, I feel like he should be considered on the same level as a Jeffrey Combs or someone like that. I wonder if he does the convention circuit, I'd think he'd be very popular there.
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Jul 6, 2021 19:23
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2. Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace vs. 7. Roger Corman’s Tower of London This is a pretty easy decision for me. Tower of London has one great performance. Everything else about it is relatively forgettable. Blood and Black Lace features several competent performances and it had an interesting plot and it was visually amazing. If Corman loses I will be sad to see him go because I've barely scratched his surface this year, but there's no reason I can't watch any of his other movies any time I feel like it (assuming they're streaming somewhere or otherwise available for a reasonable price). 3. George Romero’s Land of the Dead vs. 6. (STAC Goat’s The Ghostbeaters) Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected vs. 14. Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23 The three-way is a little bit more difficult for me because I didn't actually dislike The Resurrected. I was more disappointed by it than anything else. On the other hand, I wasn't necessarily crazy about Land of the Dead either. I'm really on the fence at this point. I watched Land of the Dead back in February so I will probably want to rewatch it to make the comparison fair. The Number 23 was a real turd.
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Jul 6, 2021 21:14
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I'm gonna be the only one voting for Number 23, am I? I can't even really come up with a good reason for it, but the thing stuck with me. Maybe like a turd, but it stuck.
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Jul 7, 2021 15:20
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married but discreet posted:I'm gonna be the only one voting for Number 23, am I? I can't even really come up with a good reason for it, but the thing stuck with me. Maybe like a turd, but it stuck. The heart wants what it wants.
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Jul 7, 2021 16:55
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