20. Unwanted Caller (or something not gonna look up the name) - Well by my desire to look up the title of the movie I watched earlier today could tell I wanted it. Kind of a fun trapped house scenario that changes gear like halfway through and does nothing for me.
21. Scream Halloween Special - This is cheating, but it's over the usual 80 mins of some horror movies and is pretty self-contained as a story. It was a fun little adventure in the Scream MTV world.
Ive seen this film recommended multiple times here on Gaf, most recently earlier in this thread, and having watched it I can absolutely see why. What a cracking movie. A little creepy, a little tense, very funny and occasionally blood-splattered. The characters are appealing, the performances are great (particularly from Rima Te Wiata, who stole all her scenes as the heroines mother), and its got a cool story - a little bit like an offbeat, supernaturally-flavoured Kiwi version of Disturbia. Only lots better than Disturbia.
Alrighttt, I haven't done this in a while (since Oct 6th!) and excuse me if this is considered incorrect for this thread, since I have a lot I watched (I'm still 1 ahead!!). And away... we... go...
9. What We Do In The Shadows - Fantastic movie, probably my favorite one so far. Love the Flight of the Concords guys and it was really subtle yet hilarious. My kind of humor!
5/5
(Wife score (5/5)
10. Martyrs - not sure where I was suggested this at, but it was OK. The premise was interesting and the starting was really intriguing, but it kind of got muddled and seemed a bit pointless near the end. Not sure what they were going for.
3/5
(Wife 2/5)
11. The Wailing - Excellent! It was a bit confusing but the more I thought about it the more brilliant it became. Well done and well paced, with a completely original and interesting idea. Loved how this was shot and how the plot was brought out.
5/5
(Wife 5/5)
12. Halloween Town - I remember this movie being better than it was. Kind of dated. Had some charming stuff in it still and some of the practical effects still hold up, but it's pretty generic and pointless. Cute kids movie though!
2/5
(Wife 2/5)
13. The Hollow - My god. Goddammit. I miss heard my brother when he mentioned this movie and thought he said the 2015 streamable on Netflix "The Hollow" but he meant to say the 2015 streamable on Netflix "The Hallow". So I had to watch this horrible piece of trash. It was absolutely pointless and made me question reality, why do these movies get made? The creature looked kinda cool I guess.
1/5
(Wife 1/5)
14. The Hallow - Sooo this was the right one! And it was pretty original and well done. I liked the pacing and the creatures were pretty creepy. The feel of it was very mystical and mysterious, I wonder if there are any others like this?
4/5
(Wife 5/5)
15. They Look Like People - This movie felt very indie and it was kind of slow in spots. The acting was a bit distracting because Indie Film actors are always a pet peeve of mine. But the idea and execution was pretty well done, plus the ending intrigued me more.
3/5
(Wife 2/5)
16. Misery - Not really a "Horror movie" but I was curious to see this because I am a fan of Kathie Bates and heard this was a good one. I really enjoyed it and the acting was fantastic. It had a lot of great tense moments and it was well written and paced.
4/5
(Wife 4/5)
17. The Invitation - I really liked this movie (streaming on Netflix), the concept seemed pretty original and I love films that play with the viewers mind as much as it plays with the main characters mind. Always questioning who is the crazy one? Worth a watch. My wife was a bit bored by it though.
4/5
(Wife 3/5)
18. Poltergeist - I never fully watched this one as a kid because it scared me so much. Surprisingly it was not scary at all and at times I kind of thought it was going for more of a comedy. Also I can't tell if it's the version I got, but the editing and pacing was all over the place. I actually was really bummed by this...
3/5
(Wife 2/5)
19. Hush - our homework! I really enjoyed this movie, although I thought it would be a lot scarier than it turned out to be. The guy seemed kind of dweeby a bit I guess and it wasnt that scary thinking I could take that guy out multiple times. But they really had moments of absolute helplessness which was pretty impressive, also the multiple choice ending thing the character does is really inventive and interesting -- almost wish that would be replicated in more films.
4/5
(Wife 4/5)
Timecrimes - More of a thriller than a horror movie. The first half is horror-ish, with the second half being more of a thriller. But I really love this movie. It is unique and keeps you interested from beginning to end. Won't say more as I don't want to give it away.
Sleepaway Camp - Such an amazing classic. From the campy dialogue, to the ridiculous death scenes, to that crazy ending - watch this!
Return to Sleepaway Camp - Do Not Watch This! Such a bore and I ended up hating every character under the sun.
The Devil Rejects - A film I have heard of here and there over the years, but never watched it. I didn't know what to expect going in, but it wasn't this. I wanted to like it, it just never clicked for me.
1. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (DVD) 2. The Hollow (Netflix) 3. The Children (DVD) 4. Wes Craven Presents: Mind Ripper (Hulu) 5. C.H.U.D. (Hulu) 6. Fright Night 3D (Blu-Ray 3D) 7. Dead Alive (DVD) 8. The Hallow (Netflix) 9. Eraserhead (Blu-Ray) 10. Meridian (DVD) 11. Housebound (Netflix) 12. The Monster Squad (Blu-Ray) 13. Masters of Horror: The Black Cat (DVD)
14. Godzilla (1954) (Blu-Ray)
-Still a great watch after all these years! The Criterion Blu-Ray looks much better than my old DVD copy too!
15. Godzilla 1984/The Return of Godzilla (Blu-Ray)
-I hadn't seen this one since I was a kid and barely remembered it so I was really psyched when the Blu-Ray got announced. Good stuff!
16. Shin Godzilla (Theater)
-I'm a huge Godzilla and Evangelion fan so I couldn't wait to see this - I loved it! Shin Godzilla was terrifying and the human side of the story was surprisingly entertaining.
17. Ghostbusters (2016) (Blu-Ray 3D)
-I didn't expect much from this one considering I grew up with the original Ghostbusters movies but it was great! It was really funny and the ghosts looked fantastic in 3D!
18. Masters of Horror - The Damned Thing (DVD)
-This one was a bit graphic for my tastes but I still enjoyed the story/concept.
19. Masters of Horror - Dream Cruise (DVD)
-It ran a bit longer than I expected but I really liked this one!
#31 Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Another solid Halloween entry, the quick follow up to Halloween 4. Enjoyed Michael stalk his victims in a Camaro this time (he must be getting tired). Overall just ok. Drags a bit and the attempts at comedy don't work.
3/5
#32 Killers (2014)
The Mo brothers deliver yet another incredibly brutal and dark film. Two serial killers become aware of each other thanks to a site where they post their kills. One is experienced and motivated by his own desire and the other is a novice, one might say, yet motivated by vengeance. Fans of brutal, gritty S. Korean crime films and French extremity need to check this out. That taxi scene. It also has one of the best red band trailers (NSFW).
5/5
#33 Cabin Fever (2016)
Yes, there is a remake. And yes, it's completely unnecessary. Some of the worst dialogue I've heard in a while. Also, who brings a machine gun to the woods? The didn't even get the "pancakes" scene down right. It gets some bonus points for the insane amount of impressive gore, even by Eli Roth standards. The ending violence is pretty insane and almost makes it worth watching. There is a shovel scene that is just downright disturbing.
2/5
#34 The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
My last film in the new Hammer collection. Oliver Reed gives a great performance, as usual, as a cursed, tortured soul. There's a bit of a red herring in the beginning which switched things up a bit. Also, this is a surprisingly emotional Hammer film about doomed love. May be slow for some, as the werewolf action doesn't really kick in until the last 10 minutes.
4/5
#35 Slugs (1988)
SO GOOD. Pieces is great but Slugs is Juan Piquer Simón's true masterpiece. It's great that we got both on blu this year. A small town is under siege by a meat-eating giant slug infestation through the sewer system. No one is safe. Somehow literally thousands of slugs are able to infiltrate people's homes seemingly overnight and form a floor of slugs that will devour any human alive. The effects in this are top notch and practical, tons of gore as well.
One Body Too Many. This was from 1944 and came in a 50 movie DVD set I picked up for cheap just for the 31 day marathon. So far this is the second film I've watched out of it and it was quite good. This particular copy wasn't very well done because the dark sections were overly dark and there was some weird triangle thing blipping on the screen here and there but that did not detract from the comedy or the story. Some old dude dies and leaves his fortune to the family he couldn't stand. They just have to follow some rules. As his will is setup he will give one of them $500,000 and on down to the worst of them who only gets $1.50 cab fare to return home. This insurance salesman gets mistaken for someone else and hilarity over who hid the body ensues. Pretty fun and actually pretty funny. It didn't exactly end very strongly but considering I didn't think this would be any good, I'll take it. Bela Lugosi was the butler but he almost feels tacked on for his name.
The Stuff. Ever piss off a marshmallow? This shows you what happens should you ever do that. I really liked the first half of it but once the nutjob militia guy comes in this gets b rated quickly...not that it wasn't before but it felt like they just tossed things together for the latter half and then it's over quickly which didn't make much sense if so many people were brainwashed but that's probably putting too much thought and effort into this thing.
Argento's Opera. This started off very good but kind of wore me down or maybe I was just tired. The opera singing was loud as hell but made sense, the rock music...not so much. I feel like the first half or two thirds of this was really good but that last part just didn't work for me.
If nothing else when compared to Cannibal Holocaust, House on the Edge of the Park feels like a marked step back in terms of filmmaking prowess and ambition. Strange as it might sound to praise a film like Cannibal Holocaust, it was undoubtedly the work of a filmmaker with a focus and a goal, leading to a highly effective film that got under your skin beyond the reprehensible animal deaths. While this film certainly is not lacking in the nastiness department, it feels far more anonymous from a visual standpoint, and while it touches upon the class dynamics that are still prevalent even now, that aspect never feels like its comfortably on a track as the film opts to go in harder on being a straightforward home invasion film of considerable sleaze. It seems strange to me now how quickly Ruggero Deodato hopped onto this after the hellish production of his previous shocker, since he clearly was in need of a breather that would have helped get this film to be more than a slimy but effective shocker, but the reality was likely that he couldn't have afforded not to. If you do take it for what it is at its basest, then I would say it's about what you expect it to be, no more and no less. David Hess is his normally scuzzy but watchable self in the role that he always played as a heavy, aided by a cast of Italian genre regulars (including everyone's favorite punching bag, Giovanni Lombardo Radice) and the always alluring Annie Belle as the lead female figure of the white collar group, all of whom are dubbed over into English with decidedly mixed results. No surprises on that front, so it falls onto the willingness to shock to help sell the film, which it does admittedly succeed on. Of course, it is a somewhat dubious success, as exploitation cinema was exactly new to some of the kind of violence and sexual threats that happen in this film, so it's hard to call this film groundbreaking in that regard, which does leave the grey morality of nearly every character as the biggest difference it offers up. It is certainly an unsparing film on that front, sparing very few from being considered truly admirable and those with purer intentions and principles are dealt with appropriately (including a truly squirm-inducing scene towards the end that is genuinely difficult to watch, despite not getting nearly as bad as it could have), and with a different resolution, I think it would have been enough to lift the film up higher than it probably deserves. But I'll be damned if there hasn't been a plot twist so genuinely wrongheaded and illogical than the one this one pulls out of its ass in the last five minutes, one intended as the puzzle piece that you didn't know was missing, but instead comes across as a full-on razing of logic and rationality. I don't think I've seen a plot twist this stupid since High Tension, and quite honestly, it goes well beyond that one to a degree that it manages to orbit past stupid, approaches a point on the globe where it might be considered clever again, and then jumps into a wormhole into some cluster where bad ideas go to destroy planets. It's hard to be mad at how moronic the twist is when it is so impressive in its scale, and I'd say it saves the film just as much as it destroys it. Which leads us right back to where we were the whole time: a certifiably nasty shocker that could have done with a lot more conviction and craft to put somewhere past subpar. At least Riz Ortolani's score is good!
Film for October 20: As unconventional a setup for a horror film as one could possibly get, White Dog takes the killer animal genre and turns it on its head with what promises to be a tough critique on racial tensions in America. Promising to be eerily relevant even today, the strong cast and the film's celebrated director are shaping this up to be one of the more aggressively political films I've seen, but we'll also see just how it fares with its handling of genre conventions.
I find it rare that a horror movie will draw you in so much that in gets you on an emotional level, and you feel every bit of the hell that the characters are going though. Last year I had that experience with Amer, and this year, The Wailing. It was phenomenal.
It's definitely a little long, but I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing as by the end of it you feel like you've been drug though everything the lead character has and it's just exhausting. The pacing is very effective in that way. There's also some shifts in tone, including a lot of comedy in the first half of the movie that may not be for everyone, but if you're familiar with South Korean cinema it shouldn't be much of a surprise.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
out 5 "What's in the basket?"
Bonus 02) Slugs: The Movie (Slugs, muerte viscosa) (1988) (Oct 18)
I'm including this as a bonus viewing because I first watched it for the marathon back in 2004 (review here), but I gave the new Arrow Blu-ray with the badass cover a watch. My opinion hasn't changed upon my second viewing. It's still a ton of fun, though a little uneven. The Blu-ray looks way better than you'd expect a movie about man-eating slugs to look. It makes me so happy that we live in a time where a film like Slugs gets a gorgeous Blu-ray release.
As for the extras, I didn't get time to go though the interviews, but I had the two commentaries on in the background as I was going about my day. The commentary with horror author/editor/director, Chris Alexander was pretty annoying as he rambles on more about his life than the movie. I ended up turning it off towards the end. The commentary with the author of the original Slugs novel, Shaun Hutson (yes, Slugs was based on a novel!) and hosted by Michael Felsher was really entertaining. Hutson has a great sense of humor and is a terrific sport about the whole thing. I really enjoyed listening to this commentary.
Recommended for fans of cheese.
Rating:
out 5 "What's in the basket?"
19) Christine (1983) (Oct 19)
I'm kind of surprised Christine isn't spoken about as much as Carpenter's other movies. I thought it was definitely upper tier. It's for sure one of his more consistent films. It was a little longer than it needed to be though, with too long of a first part and too short of a second.
Not much else to say about this one, but man, there's some awesome practical car stuff in here. Thank God it was made before CG ruined everything.
Recommended.
Rating:
out 5 "What's in the basket?"
Was the whole “shitter” thing in the novel? It seems very Stephen King-y.
Bonus 03) The Thing (1982) (Oct 19) - 5 / 5
John Carpenter double feature! Another re-watch because I bought the new Scream Factory Blu-ray.
Now, I don't mean to sound like I'm shitting on the dude because I love his work, but I never quite understood how The Thing is so much better than Carpenter's other movies, like on a completely different level. Yes, even the mighty Halloween. It's “sold his soul to the devil” good. Just a damn near perfect movie.
As for the Blu-ray, I'm kind of torn on it. The level of detail is great and there's so many extras I can't even consider looking at them until after the marathon, but the transfer is too bright and way too desaturated. It looks like someone left it out in the sun. I have no idea how it's supposed to look, but I can't believe this is it.
Highly recommended for the movie. Undecided on the Scream Factory Blu-ray.
Been too busy with work, the election, and NX hype that I've forgotten to post, but at least I'm still watching a movie a day and I'm well ahead of schedule. Post is just gonna have to wait til the weekend!
"I feel like something bad is going to happen to me. I feel like something bad has happened. It hasn't reached me yet, but it's on its way. It's getting closer. I'm not ready, but I can't do anything."
--Alice Palmer
"Death takes everything eventually. It's the meanest, dumbest machine there is and it just doesn't care."
"I hope that Alice did know how much I loved her. I guess I held something back a little as she grew older. That would be the saddest thing, to think she might not know."
--June Palmer, Alice's mother
The story of Lake Mungo is about the accidental drowning death of Alice Palmer, and the aftermath of her death on her family - both before and after her ghost returns to the house. The film is a meditation about death, loss, grief, dreams and nightmares, and how at times they can all intersect. It's about the past coming back to haunt you, and the inevitability of death coming forward to take you.
I first saw Lake Mungo in one of these marathons several years ago. This was my 4th watch, and it's affected me more and more each time. Part of it is probably my older daughter growing close to Alice's age when she died, and the authenticity with which her family's grief is portrayed hits a bit harder. Their grief, the utter unfairness of what was taken from them, hangs like a cold damp cloth over the entire film. It's first and foremost a recounting of a tragedy, and that's critical to making the other aspects of the film work.
This time through I came to appreciate the film's structure. We spend an hour with Alice's family, mourning her death, before we really learn anything about her. Then it turns to who Alice was when she was alive, rather than who she's remembered as in death, and it turns the story on its head. It's there that the film's plot seems to wander, but I appreciate how they don't feel the need to make every thread connect. Alice was a complex person. She had friends and fears, public lives and secret lives. In other words, she was a teenager. Her coming across as an ordinary person is a big part of what makes what happens to her so horrifying.
This is a documentary-style film without action, gore, death (other than Alice, who dies before the film opens) or jump scares. It's mostly people talking to cameras, or over home video footage and photographs, and a few scene recreations. Most importantly, it feels real, and so when we finally learn about what happened to Alice - both before and after her death - it's deeply unsettling.
This is a quiet, spooky film meant to unsettle with ideas and still images, not horrify with blood and guts. If that appeals to you, I recommend it highly. It's become one of my favorite films, but it's definitely not for everyone.
Very few films get under my skin as Lake Mungo has. I will sleep little tonight.
Following in the footsteps of visionaries such as David Cronenberg and Bob Clark, director John Pasquin delivers a truly unsettling entry in the body horror genre cloaked in a cheery, deck-the-halls facade that is only as deep as a dusting of snow. In a memorable turn by Tim Allen, our protagonist Scott Calvin is a bumbling but well-meaning single father struggling to raise his son. One Christmas Eve, in an apparent home invasion, Scott inadvertently kills the supposed invader, who turns out to be the jolly old elf himself. Scott is duped by the fine print on a card in Santa's pocket and soon learns, according to the Santa Clause - which might be more accurately described as a curse - that by putting on Santa's clothes, he is now forced to take on the role of Santa Claus himself. What follows is a horrifying series of transformations that Scott tries desperately to fend off, but to no avail. He gains massive amounts of weight, his hair turns white, and his facial hair grows wildly as he gradually comes to resemble the iconic Coca-Cola iteration of Kris Kringle. No amount of exercise and shaving is enough to reverse these transformations as Scott's body (and eventually his mind) becomes something thoroughly alien and unfamiliar, causing trouble in his work and in his personal life. Interestingly, this transformation doesn't even begin until the second half of the film, allowing the movie to establish an emotional core before the horror really begins.
For a time, Scott lives in terror of the obligation that has been forced upon him; physical changes aside, he knows that if the transformation is completed he will also have to leave behind everything he knows, including his son. His antagonistic ex-wife and her skeptical husband hold too much contempt for Scott to listen to his cries for help as his true identity is suppressed and the Santa within begins to rise to the surface. Even Scott's loving son Charlie is of little help, as his youthful naïveté prevents him from comprehending the severity of Scott's predicament, and instead results in elation that his father is the new Santa Claus. With no one to turn to except the elves that insist on coaxing out this new foreign identity, Scott finally loses himself and becomes something he is not. His own identity is obliterated as he becomes a mere symbol, considered a myth by many. By the time his ex-wife and her husband learn the truth, it is already far too late to help Scott, and he is forced to abandon his son and live hundreds of miles from civilization. In the film's only real misstep, this tragic ending is unfortunately glossed over with a contrived magic snow globe that allows Charlie to see his father whenever he wants, which I consider a major detriment to the film's troubling and emotional impact. I imagine this was a concession to the studio big wigs to ensure a profit. However, this is subverted with one of Charlie's final lines, "I think I'm going to go into the family business." Considering the nature of the Santa Clause, this comes off as amusingly sinister, though subtle enough to get past the censors.
Despite the slight cop-out at the end, however, The Santa Clause leaves us with much to ponder long after it is over. How many others shared Scott's fate? Was the man he killed just another innocent person upon whom the Santa mantle was forced, taking away everything he knew? How far back does this tradition go? How many hundreds of people have been turned into Santa, only to be freed by the release of death? To take the premise in another horrifying direction, what if a woman were to accidentally kill a Santa? Would the transformation alter her sex against her will in order to honor the North Pole's twisted contract? Was there ever even an actual, original Santa Claus? If so, is he the one who penned the damning document that would torment countless people and rob them of their lives? If not, who or what did write it? What entity wields that kind of power? A Santa cannot alter the Clause himself, hinting at some sort of greater power governing the procedures and adding a touch of cosmic horror to the film.
The movie does not provide easy answers, instead allowing these troubling implications to lurk in the background and fester in the viewer's subconscious beneath the thin veneer of holiday cheer. The Santa Clause is a nuanced rumination on the place of holiday tradition in a modern world that has buried it in cynical commercial capitalism, and the lengths to which those traditions, here given life, will go to preserve themselves. It is an examination of the powerlessness of the individual in the face of an unyielding, uncaring, and unfamiliar bureaucracy, drawing easy comparisons to the works of Kafka. The Santa Clause is truly a chilling tale, and I liken its protagonist to The Fly's Seth Brundle, a man with the best of intentions who is doomed to be transformed into something entirely alien, and who must navigate the changes in his relationships and his own identity in light of these awful developments. However, Scott perhaps has a fate worse than Brundle: to live in his new, foreign form, perhaps for hundreds of years, carrying out the yearly tasks forced upon him by the titular Clause long after everyone he knows is dead. Because unlike a hideous fly creature, nobody wants to deliberately put jolly old Father Christmas out of his misery.
Following in the footsteps of visionaries such as David Cronenberg and Bob Clark, director John Pasquin delivers a truly unsettling entry in the body horror genre cloaked in a cheery, deck-the-halls facade that is only as deep as a dusting of snow.
#19 - The Blob (1988)
Years ago I watched the original 1954 version of The Blob and while I appreciated it for what it was, I didn't much like it because it was too tame and a bit old fashioned / outdated. This was quite the update. Plotwise it goes through the expected motions, but the script is pretty tight and the tone of the movie is just right. The performances are on point and there's just enough cheesiness. The effects on the blob creature are absolutely amazing and the kills are juicy, gory and fingerlicking good. Great use of practical effects. 7/10
"I feel like something bad is going to happen to me. I feel like something bad has happened. It hasn't reached me yet, but it's on its way. It's getting closer. I'm not ready, but I can't do anything."
--Alice Palmer
"Death takes everything eventually. It's the meanest, dumbest machine there is and it just doesn't care."
"I hope that Alice did know how much I loved her. I guess I held something back a little as she grew older. That would be the saddest thing, to think she might not know."
--June Palmer, Alice's mother
The story of Lake Mungo is about the accidental drowning death of Alice Palmer, and the aftermath of her death on her family - both before and after her ghost returns to the house. The film is a meditation about death, loss, grief, dreams and nightmares, and how at times they can all intersect. It's about the past coming back to haunt you, and the inevitability of death coming forward to take you.
I first saw Lake Mungo in one of these marathons several years ago. This was my 4th watch, and it's affected me more and more each time. Part of it is probably my older daughter growing close to Alice's age when she died, and the authenticity with which her family's grief is portrayed hits a bit harder. Their grief, the utter unfairness of what was taken from them, hangs like a cold damp cloth over the entire film. It's first and foremost a recounting of a tragedy, and that's critical to making the other aspects of the film work.
This time through I came to appreciate the film's structure. We spend an hour with Alice's family, mourning her death, before we really learn anything about her. Then it turns to who Alice was when she was alive, rather than who she's remembered as in death, and it turns the story on its head. It's there that the film's plot seems to wander, but I appreciate how they don't feel the need to make every thread connect. Alice was a complex person. She had friends and fears, public lives and secret lives. In other words, she was a teenager. Her coming across as an ordinary person is a big part of what makes what happens to her so horrifying.
This is a documentary-style film without action, gore, death (other than Alice, who dies before the film opens) or jump scares. It's mostly people talking to cameras, or over home video footage and photographs, and a few scene recreations. Most importantly, it feels real, and so when we finally learn about what happened to Alice - both before and after her death - it's deeply unsettling.
This is a quiet, spooky film meant to unsettle with ideas and still images, not horrify with blood and guts. If that appeals to you, I recommend it highly. It's become one of my favorite films, but it's definitely not for everyone.
Very few films get under my skin as Lake Mungo has. I will sleep little tonight.
Glad to see someone else watching/enjoying this one. I think the After Dark attachment might scare some away. It's absolutely one of the scariest films I've ever seen. I was with two other people when I saw it originally and I remember being absolutely shaken by
the cell phone footage
and honestly the film as a whole by that point and the other two were just not having it.
Another re-watch. You shouldn't watch this movie when you're about to take any flight. Seriously, I'm taking my vacation next month and the opening sequence in this movie is making me nervous. Anyway, one of the enjoyable "slasher" films for sure.
Its a fun movie but not as great as its predecessor. The minor twist gets me everytime - how these movies are all related. The kills were not as creative as the first movie but its I like the different settings and how they actually tried to "fool" death.
I'll try watching new movies this time when catching up. These are the only quick items I saw available on Netflix.
The second of the 2016 summer flicks that I missed out on in theatres. If Lights Out kinda disappointed me, this was even worse. What starts as an interesting role reversal premise that could ask some interesting moral questions, in as much as our protagonists are home invaders who have no qualm stealing settlement money from a blind war-vet father whose daughter was killed. So here really the usual horror movie victims are the perps and the "killer" is the victim. So watching him terrorize them and pick them off could have you questioning morality in as much as how much do you find what he's doing justified. Still was pretty dull at times tbh as most of the time he was just a blind guy with a gun which is dull but at least it would have been an attempt at something and some of the cinematography was great as is Stephen Lang. But they fuck it all up with a two part unnecessary sexually violent and borderline misogynistic twist that basically comes completely out of left field and felt like it came from a completely different movie. It basically made me just throw my hands up and say fuck this. I finished it but it basically played out exactly as it could have without the twist more or less. Oh and there was an extra long Cujo rip off scene that literally amounts to fuck all.
Long story short it was kinda dull to begin with but the twist turned it from a meh movie to a fuck no movie.
#15 - Don't Breathe (2016)
Only a few horror movies ago I watched Wait Until Dark which actually is somewhat similar to this one. Well, not really, but you know, kind of. Both movies include people breaking into a blind person's house to steal something. There the comparison ends because otherwise it is the complete opposite. Don't Breathe is a decent low-budget thriller; the concept is fine but execution is lacking and becomes tiresome real quick. Found it quite hard to care for the punk-ass 'protagonists' when they are the ones breaking into this poor blind guy's home. That also means you can't just keep cutting to the big blue-eyed blond girl and expect me to empathize! 5/10
Interesting because see I thought the intention of the film (until it went south) was that you aren't fully supposed to sympathize with the protags. That's what made it moderately interesting to me again until it went batshit dumb.
Film #44 - Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
I feel like I appreciate this one a bit more each time I revisit it. When I was younger I was stubborn and wanted nothing to do with it since it was so different. Thankfully, I came around and opened my mind a bit as this is a very interesting watch.
Sometimes I wonder what future entries would've been like if this didn't absolutely kill the potential for the anthology series thing. The general concept of this one was so great that I wish we could've seen some more at times.
Film #45 - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
As I previously mentioned in my review of Halloween II, I don't have a very critical lens when it comes to this series. Like I can obviously see problems with the various films and dislike them to varying degrees at times but I generally have a weak spot for the series. Knowing that I'll probably do some basic pros/cons of the entries from here on out. At least for the original series.
Pros:
- Great ending (which of course just had to be wasted but I'm not gonna knock this for that)
- Danielle Harris is great as Jamie
- The rooftop set piece is one of my favorites
- Sundae is the cutest pupper!!!
Cons:
- This portrayal of Myers might be the least intimidating in the original series
- The general plot around the beginning (or the film as a whole for that matter) is a mess. I can look past this as I'm a Halloween stan and don't love myself but I can see others not being able to.
- Outside of the rooftop sequence mentioned above there aren't too many memorable bits to be found here.
Film #46 - Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Yikes. I just seem to hate this one more each time I see it, it seems.
Pros:
- Like in The Return of Michael Myers, this one has a great set piece in the laundry chute sequence
- This is shot pretty well
Cons:
- The fantastic ending from 4 is more or less thrown out the window
- Nearly everything else
Film #47 - Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Went with the theatrical cut.
While I can see why this one is so detested among viewers, I've always had a weird enjoyment of this one. I don't think it's a good film by any means but I can pick out some good elements in the trash here that make this one of the more enjoyable sequels.
Pros:
- This is really suspenseful at a few points and Michael is actually scary for the first time since probably II.
- The atmosphere in this one is amazing. It's probably the only sequel to actually feel like fall/Halloween.
- Pleasance/Dr. Loomis is at his series best outside of the original here. It was nice to see a lot of the hamminess toned down for his last appearance.
- Kara is probably my favorite lead in the series after Laurie.
- There's baby Paul Rudd.
Cons:
- The plot is at a series high of messiness here. I'd get into it a bit more but I just don't know where to start. I have to fully separate myself from the plot with this and just enjoy the atmosphere/aesthetics or I'd lose it tbh.
- The ending is bad.
- The actress change for Jamie was disappointing. (not knocking Brandy, it just would've been nice for Harris to return)
- The editing in this is really weird at times. The troubled production really didn't help things obviously.
- I'm not a fan of the guitar driven main theme and such with the score.
#20 - Krampus (2015)
Krampus is an amazing movie. Amazing. I loved it. If you haven't seen it, stop reading this and go watch it now. A Christmas Comedy Horror about Krampus, the evil anti-Clause. The movie has an amazing pacing, is never boring, there are some amazing creatures in this. And to top it off, there are some legit great (comedy) actors in this. I can't say enough good things about this movie. It's fun. Watch it. It reminded me a lot of Gremlins, just enjoyable horror shenanigans. I would say this is even a pretty good family horror to watch with teenage kids. And like Gremlins, it's humorous, but never over-the-top. Horror elements are legit, never campy. Instant Classic, I can see this becoming a yearly Christmas viewing... 5 gingerbread men out of 5
#20 - Chopping Mall (1986)
A bunch of teenagers are partying after hours in a mall when the cleaning robots decide to KILL THEM ALL. Luckily these kids have easy access to guns and DIY explosives to fight the robots. This is true campy 80s schlock in its purest form: Super trashy, super fun. I loved it. Deliciously hammy lines, terrible acting, gratuitous nudity and terrific exploding head effects...yeah, it's pretty damn awesome. Those robots though. Beep boop ¯\_(ツ_/¯ 6.5/10
I've abandoned by schedule and now just watching whatever I get the urge to. These are first-time watches:
The Brood (or, "bad adventures in babysitting")
This (and Fast Company now that I look at it) was the only Cronenberg movie I really just never took the time to sit and watch. Im glad I did just to be a completionist, but I found the movie mostly meandering until its third act when things really started to move forward. I mean damn the kindergarten scene is rough. The movie really starts to take form around there and you become more invested in everything.
The plot tended to shift between the more interesting mystery of the kids and figuring them out and the pretty tedious Oliver Reed sections and him talking to people maybe more than I wanted. Reed's character is important, sure, but I wish there was something more interesting going on when we visit him over and over again. Maybe its the writing and lack of stuff for him to really say or do until the end, or maybe its Reeds performance itself which makes me want to kind of take a nap.
An overall good, atmospheric film that plays its plot a little too loose and lacks focus. It gets by on creepiness and an overall good concept. I feel like Cronenberg hadnt quite mastered the psychological horror elements just yet, but hes certainly playing around with it enough to make a solid flick with the fetuses and the babies and the blood and whatnot. 4/5
Demons (or, "does this look infected to you?")
One of the few Argento movies I havent seen. Its very much his style yet simultaneously out of his wheelhouse in terms of tone as its a little more campy and I would say pretty damn dumb for the most part. Well, the characters are dumb, but its a horror movie so its to be expected them doing dumb shit. It has some great set pieces, the climatic samurai-sword-weilding/motorcycle-riding fight sequence the highlight.
Its unfair to simply compare movies, but Id take his taught giallos over something this schlocky, its just not his strength I find, but I enjoyed it for the schlockyness and solid blood and gore effects nonetheless. 3.5/5
Frankenhooker (or, "I will always love you, milady")
Speaking of Schlock, this is a poster child for it. First time watching this one as well, its always been in the back of my mind to sit and watch it but thats what October is for: get that backlog out of the way. It wasnt as funny as I thought, but it was still self-aware and very tongue-in-cheek. Effects ranged from awful to passable and its overall a harmless, silly movie more than anything. Its not one Id be going back to, though. 3/5
Dont Breathe (or, "bad times with Avatar dude")
Its 2/3rds a pretty solid thriller. Theres a few sequences here that are legit clever and smart and I love the use of space and lighting for what's mostly a one-location minimal movie, but then all thats thrown aside for a pretty awful plot having to explain backstory. FYI: what often brings down any horror movie is exposition and having to explain everything. So we end up with a great concept that ends up not trusting its idea enough to see it all the way through as it takes an utterly dumb and pointless left-turn just for the same of taking a left-turn.
Its not a mystery we need or is even presented early on, we just need the situation and the execution. Thats it. Throw in a bit of subtle this guy used to be military like you have already and youre good. Usually a film that goes off the deep end at the end at least has enough going for it until then to make me say alright well that part was junk but it did the rest well (see Insidious) but I cant really give Dont Breathe a pass with that because theres not enough to get through it. 2/5
Wow, really fell behind on this. Quick and dirty run down
5.)Phantasm Ravager: 3/5
6.) Bubba Ho-Tep - 4/5
7.) Conjuring 2 - 3/5
8.) Frankenhooker - 4/5
9.) Ghostbusters - 2/5
10.) House (Hausu) - 3/5
11.) Dawn of the Dead (original) - 4/5
12.) Favor - 3/5
13.) The Purge -Election Year (not really horror, but I am padding my list) - 2/5
#24 Blood and Black Lace - This is becoming a yearly tradition for me during the marathon for the last 3 years. Probably the most stylish Giallo I've seen aside from Tenebre, and I love that main theme. The kills are still brutal 50 years later, and I still find it tremendously entertaining to watch.
For the first three quarters of its length, WASH is a beautifully creepy haunted house story. Im trying hard to pinpoint just why it creeped me out as much as it did - perhaps it was the physical appearance of the ghosts, or the way you saw much more of them than most films of this type allow, I dont know. Whatever it was, it genuinely put the wind up me, and I was loving that, because it doesnt happen very often. Its easy to startle people with noisy jump scares, but its much more difficult to really unnerve someone.
And then the film reaches its final act, and weirdly turns into a batshit crazy bloodbath. This isnt really a complaint, because that final act is fantastic, and their are hints earlier in the movie of what might lie in store, but it still sort of jars after the subtle spookiness that characterised the first three-quarters of the movie. The last twenty minutes almost feel like they belong in a totally different film. This isnt just because of the sudden, massive increase in violence - lots of films slow burn towards a brutal finale after all - but rather because the whole vibe (for want of a better word) seems to change, and we move from a serious, chilling period piece, into what feels like a slightly camp 1980s gorefest. Unfortunately the characters dont really make that transition, and become just a little bit less convincing in the midst of the carnage as a result. (I feel like Im doing a really crap job here of explaining what I didnt like about a film I actually really liked!)
Anyway, despite these poorly articulated reservations, I would still definitely recommend the movie. I enjoyed it a lot, its got a lovely performance from the great Barbara Crampton and Ill definitely be looking out for debut writer/director Ted Geoghegans future work.
I love it also. The design of the whole thing (sets, monsters, sound) is amazing.
16. I Walked With a Zombie
I Walked With a Zombie is a compelling voodoo film. Its a pretty straightforward story, but there are a lot of relationship issues between the characters. I liked that that the main character, Betsy, is not immediately dismissive of the indigenous people and actually shows some compassion and respect. The small discussion about how the natives of St. Sebastian weep at birth and cheer at death because of their misery and history of slavery was pretty powerful to me. The conclusion of the film was satisfying to me and a just end for most of the characters.
17. The Invisible Man
One of my favorite movies. Claude Rains is a powerhouse, even without seeing his face. He's easily the most evil of the classic monsters. The special effects were groundbreaking. There is a good dose of humor and drama. I love every minute of it.
Glad to see someone else watching/enjoying this one. I think the After Dark attachment might scare some away. It's absolutely one of the scariest films I've ever seen. I was with two other people when I saw it originally and I remember being absolutely shaken by
the cell phone footage
and honestly the film as a whole by that point and the other two were just not having it.
Glad to see someone else watching/enjoying this one. I think the After Dark attachment might scare some away. It's absolutely one of the scariest films I've ever seen. I was with two other people when I saw it originally and I remember being absolutely shaken by
the cell phone footage
and honestly the film as a whole by that point and the other two were just not having it.
I honestly haven't seen anything similar; several that have tried, but none nearly as effective. The closest I can think of is The Taking of Deborah Logan, on Netflix instant. It's following a story in progress from the standpoint of a film project, so it's a similar documentary style, and covers some similar ground, though with a slowly unfolding tragi-horror event. Great performances across the board, though the story execution stumbles in the 3rd act. (Don't watch trailers if you plan to see the film.) Just not in the same league as Lake Mungo.
I recall sleeping like, two hours the night I saw it. The
shared dreams from different vantage points
really unnerve me. Particularly when I randomly think of them right before bed. Bad idea!
#20 - Krampus (2015)
Krampus is an amazing movie. Amazing. I loved it. If you haven't seen it, stop reading this and go watch it now. A Christmas Comedy Horror about Krampus, the evil anti-Clause. The movie has an amazing pacing, is never boring, there are some amazing creatures in this. And to top it off, there are some legit great (comedy) actors in this. I can't say enough good things about this movie. It's fun. Watch it. It reminded me a lot of Gremlins, just enjoyable horror shenanigans. I would say this is even a pretty good family horror to watch with teenage kids. And like Gremlins, it's humorous, but never over-the-top. Horror elements are legit, never campy. Instant Classic, I can see this becoming a yearly Christmas viewing... 5 gingerbread men out of 5
Yeah, Krampus was a lot of fun. Glad to see it getting some love this marathon. I saw it in theaters but am going to re-watch around Christmas time. The Gremlins characterization is apt, it's got the same mischievous vibe running through it. It also gets surprisingly dark - I was not ready to see
the big worm monster eating the son, depositing him into the bag
- and is missing the more silly elements from Gremlins (the bar scene), which is a big plus, IMO. It's funny and kinda scary and doesn't pull its punches. And totally nails the Christmas vibe - that opening is going to be a classic.
It's a must see if you love the 80's, cheesy exploitation films and killer robots and no one has posted a gif of the famous Suzee Slater scene or Dick Miller getting electrocuted on a freshly mopped floor.
I Saw the Devil. Words kind of fail me right now. I just finished watching this and I'm torn between thinking it was stupid to not end the story early and just be done with things vs letting it play out to the end we got. Basically this is a tale about how revenge can ruin someone and basically everyone around them. I can say that the film is immensely brutal and extremely well done and acted. Just an incredible film to watch.
The center of this movie is atmosphere. It's very drab and dreary, much like The Road. In fact, I swear sometimes characters are in black and white. Some debate whether or not this is a horror movie, and i say it is, just not in the conventional way. There are supernatural things about, and witchcraft is the focus here. It may be slowed paced, but be patient. The movie isn't even that long. It's not a bad movie, but I know there are people who enjoyed it more than me.
One of the few Argento movies I havent seen. Its very much his style yet simultaneously out of his wheelhouse in terms of tone as its a little more campy and I would say pretty damn dumb for the most part. Well, the characters are dumb, but its a horror movie so its to be expected them doing dumb shit. It has some great set pieces, the climatic samurai-sword-weilding/motorcycle-riding fight sequence the highlight.
Its unfair to simply compare movies, but Id take his taught giallos over something this schlocky, its just not his strength I find, but I enjoyed it for the schlockyness and solid blood and gore effects nonetheless. 3.5/5
A challenging film with a pulp exterior, White Dog is the kind of gutsy genre film that they don't make enough of. While it works just fine as a straight-on thriller with a compelling ticking time bomb at the center of the story (dogs have rarely been this wonderfully photographed in motion), the real attraction is how well the film weaves in its rhetoric without coming off as preachy or treacly. Director Sam Fuller certainly has an interesting approach: he embraces the genre conventions, staging some truly horrifying attack scenes that leave surprisingly little to the imagination, and has his actors capably deliver the kind of heavy-handed dialogue that's familiar to films like this. The bluntness of the outward elements are pretty important, because what's filled in the cracks between them is where the movie is elevated to the heights that it reaches. Whether it's the uneasy juxtaposition of how each member of their respective race reacts to the knowledge of what they're dealing with or the tough but fair approach it takes to the lengths that the characters are willing to go in order to rectify the whole situation, there's always something off in the margins that helps to put every typical element in a different light. You do have to accept that the film is not going for the usual sort of realism, including a scene later on in the film that requires an even bigger leap of faith on your part in order for the rest of the film to work at all, but it does lead to a rewarding experience that concludes on a tough but fair note that satisfies the baseline narrative while also leaving you with a big, important question that may not be for anyone to answer definitively. A very impressive film from beginning to end, and one that's going to be hard to shake for a while.
Films for October 21: You know, for kids! I look into a pair of kid-friendly cult classics. First up is The Monster Squad, which boasts an impressive cast and crew in a loving ode to the Universal Monsters as informed by the likes of The Goonies. Then we turn our attention a little boy that has to face a literal haunting in the wake of a murder in the haunted house throwback, Lady in White.
"I can come in anytime I want. And I can get you, anytime I want. But I'm not going to. Not until it's time. When you wish you're dead... that's when I'll come inside."
While Hush probably won't be making it into any all time great lists, it is admirable in its relentless dedication to suspense. While I feel the biggest twist this film offers (that the protagonist is deaf) isn't mined quite enough for its dramatic irony potential with sounds that the audience can hear but not our hero for maximum chair squirming, when the film does use it it's at its most effective. The film really works because its such a relatable idea, where the sanctity of your home is in danger of being defiled and out of necessity must be used as a castle. How do you keep someone out of your own house? It's this primal fear and off the cuff improvisation that made Home Alone a fun movie, only hear the suspense is obviously dialed up to sinister, rather than comedic affect (well, it does have a black sense of humor). The suspense works here because the characters aren't as stupid or unsuspecting as you're used in this genre, and much of the fun is watching the two try to outwit each other. There are the occasional moments of forehead slapping stupidity, but they're kept to a minimum. Aesthetically it's not much of a standout, but there is some very nice use of steadicam to really define the space of the house (spatial awareness is an absolute necessity in a film like this), although I really would have liked to see more use of widescreen framing to keep both predator and prey in the same frame for maximum tension, as Flanagan mostly shoots them in ones which offers a bit too much distance and comfort. While the story and themes are hardly worth writing home about, and everything is tied up and concluded in the same sort of self-assured triumph that I've grown bored of in films of this ilk, the dedication to sustaining suspense still makes for a fun watch.
I had really been looking forward to this one and am a fan of the short film this was based on. Unfortunately, it was a big miss for me. My main issue is the need to explain everything. I hate when movies do this! Sometimes, it is far scarier to know that a creepy shadow being just exists and nobody knows why. What are its motivations? How did it come to be? Who cares! All I need to know is that it is out there and it could come for anyone. I don't need to know who it used to be or what drives it. And for God's sake, don't make the thing talk! Having it speak English (or more accurately, hiss) was super lame. There's a scene when
one of the main characters points a gun at it and it hisses "That won't hurt meeee" and its like NO SHIT. Why did that need to be said?
It wasn't without its moments. I really liked the intro and there's a scene where
a police officer fires shots and the muzzle flash lights up the room, causing the shadow to disappear momentarily as it advances on him
. That was really cool! Those moments weren't enough though and the movie could have really benefitted from a different direction where the shadow could have taken more lives and had time to be more of a menace and less of a person.
It pains me to say it because I had such high hopes, but this one is another miss for me.
I'm not a George Wilbur fan at all as he never carried himself properly IMO. The padding under his coveralls looks ridiculous as well. There are only three Myers related moments in H4 that ever did it for me, those are: when Loomis sees Michael at the diner, when he stands from the rocking chair with the shotgun, and him dropping Brady's gun over the railing. I found out later that Wilbur only played Michael in the last scene I mentioned.
The biggest procrastination on me here is getting to make this list
First some recent watches that didn't make it in the October time frame
The seasoning house- fucked up, keeps you on the edge. 4/5
Haunting of Silver Falls- Eh 2/5
Friday the 13th part 7- trash 1/5
Monster squad- I feel like this movie gets lost in 80s cheese cult classics. How? 4.5/5
Nightmare on Elm Street- not so classic. 2/5
Exeter- no 1/5
The Visit- Shamalamdingdong got his groove back 4.5/5
Deliver us from evil- good high budget demon flick 4/5
Dark was the night-x. Weird religious subplot didn't go anywhere, too long, unessessary 1st scene 2/5
The Hole- good young adult horror flick. 3.5/5
Mockingbird- awesome awesome awesome until late a gutter trash ending. 3.5/5
Mr. Jones-x. Good premise, 30 mins. Terrible execution. 1.5/5
It Follows-x phenomenal atmospheric film. Lived up to the hype, but only after you let it resonate after awhile with you. 4/5
Dead silece- Eh whatever. 2/5
They- watched it for Wes Craven but its forgettable 2/5.
Creep- This movie was fuckkked. So creepy. Best on this list. 5/5
Would you rather- As a sucker for Saw movies, I really liked this. 4/5
Tales from the darkside- 80s horror anthology, pure camp. Loved it. 4.5/5
Let us prey- great watch. 4/5
Halloween 2007- With Rob Zombie it could have been worse. 2.5/5
A girl walks home alone at night-night- Worst movie on the list but its French arthouse so I guess you have to like it or something. 1/5
Gremlins- critters was better 2.5/5
Butterfly room- it was a horror movie 2/5
Circle- my second favorite movie on this list. Will keep you on the edge the entire time. 4.5/5
1. Hush- decent slasher. Didn't like at beginning how she can't feel killer outside her door. Felt her sense were rather inconsistent but I really don't know any better either. 3/5
4. The Invitation- most awkward dinner party ever and I'm pretty sure I would have walked out on this dinner party soon as that video played. Honestly was cringing at the awkward atmosphere half the time, although I guess that was the point. Good payoff if not unexpected. 3/5
6. As Above So Below- It borrows HEAVILY from my favorite horror movie ever, The Descent, except set in the creepy and claustrophobic catacombs of France. Really enjoyed it. 4/5
7. Starry Eyes- Very Meta. Cult horror movie with an entire seperately theme of the horrors of Hollywood. Fantastic job by the main actress to sell the character. Extremely unsettling which is saying something for how many horror movies I've watched. 4/5
8. The Canal- Decent horror thriller. Starts out pretty good with a nice slow build, but kind of falls apart by the end. Also features one of the most fucked up scenes in a horror flick. 3/5
9. They Look like People- Certainly a different kind of horror movie and some may not classify it as one. Whatever, it's awesome. You never quite know what's going on and it's better for to create a seemingly real yet unsettling atmosphere. Not sure if anything is ever actually resolved. 3.5/5
10. Monsters- Trumps wall was built in this movie to keep out some big monsters. Too slow a build built around an awkward love story with little payoff. Cool visuals and backdrop though. 2.5/5
11. Holidays- Anthology movie about various holidays. Very uneven. St. Patrick's day was awful. Easter was one of the more hilariously fucked up things I've watched. Halloween was also brutal. Kevin Smith, the biggest name involved here, directed this so that was really disappointing for it to be so bad. It also had nothing to do with Halloween where at least the other films stayed on topic. 2.5/5
12. Arq- this isn't too much of a horror film. I wouldn't have watched it except I saw it pop up a few places listed as horror. More like sci-fi with horror elements. Whatever, wasn't great. 2/5
13. The Relic- Fun little monster movie that makes littler sense but has enjoyable over the top characters and an awesome setting (The Field Musuem). 3/5
14. Knock Knock- Keanu Reeves gives a great performance, as do the two unhinged women. I thought this was really unsettling and one of the best movies I've watched on this list. 4.5/5
16. The Gallows- The main character is over the top and so so funny. Reminds me a bit of scream in that way, although it's a found footage paranormal movie. The last 30 minutes were shakey cam at its worst though with mindless running scenes and little plot advancement. Still enjoyable. 3/5
17. 31- Intensely graphic, nudity, excessive violence, and very strange characters. It's definitely a Rob Zombie film. The plot isn't anything more than an excuse to have all that. I'm not exactly sure why I paid 10 bucks to rent this. 2/5
18. Kill Theory- Great throwback to teen slashers and cabin movies. Bit of Saw thrown in there too. Acting leaves a lot to be desired, but otherwise Really enjoyed this. 4/5
20. 28 Days Later- For some reason I never got around to watching this until now. Not a huge zombie movie fan. Absolutely loved this though, definitely one of the best on the list. It lived up to its reputation as being a horror classic. 4.5/5
The Houses October Built
"So what is an 'extreme haunt'? I don't understand how far you can go without hurting somebody."
My wife has wanted to watch this for years (she enjoys haunted house attractions) but I always put it off because of it's abysmal review scores across the net. I'm not entirely sure why it's rated quite so low, as it does have a few pretty effective moments and some genuinely interesting interviews/on-the-street sequences at what I understand are real haunted attractions.
The Houses October Built follows a horror movie formula as old as time: a gaggle of young adults get in way over their heads and make idiotic and/or unrealistic decisions as to how to cope with their situation. Five friends embark on a road trip to find "the ultimate haunt" because for them the standard type of attraction isn't "enough" and they want to experience something that blurs the line between attraction and reality. Their journey takes them through the back highways and byways of rural Texas and Louisiana.
There's just a bunch of problems with this film that, collectively, are just too difficult to ignore. It's ostensibly "found footage" but it sort of forgets that premise in the final act wherein you start to witness things unfold from new and/or indeterminate sources without explanation (i.e. - "If what I just saw really happened in the fiction of this story, how am I even watching the film?").
Several scenes are just plainly unbelievable. Without becoming too specific, there's just a lack of reaction on the part of the five main characters in the film toward things happening to or around them that left me scratching my head. It honestly felt like at parts that someone (usually whoever was "filming") was in on some kind of joke because otherwise the lack of awareness demonstrated by the group is overpowering. Additionally, the kind of over-arching plot
wherein characters from previous haunts keep showing up later in the film
just...simply doesn't make any logical sense.
The characters don't behave in a realistic fashion when presented with certain scenarios; given their obvious predilection for "extreme" haunts, they're actually quite squeamish and easily frightened at the slightest deviation from the "normal" experience. Once those deviations take a decidedly hard-right turn into genuinely dangerous and unpredictable territory (The point at which any sane person would walk away) they just sort of casually shrug it off and continue forward. The most disturbing thing in this entire film, in fact, is the way in which the attempted sexual assault/rape of the lone female in the group is just sort of ignored and hand-waved away as "part of the show" despite the obvious trauma it causes her.
The last thing I'd like to say, to all filmmakers both "professional" and "aspiring": If you are unable to write an actual ending for your film, either because you lack the creative ability to do so, or because you've written yourself into a narrative corner from which no logical series of events can take place to provide even a modicum of resolution for your audience, then do not make your movie. Much like the abysmal The Devil Inside, The Houses October Built has NO ending. The film just sort of pointlessly lingers for it's final 3-4 minutes, I guess in an attempt to leave the audience sort of squirming at what's happening (btw, what's happening isn't shocking or remotely unexpected) and then just...stops. Literally just stops halfway through it's climax and rolls credits. Fuck you.
Apparently this film started as, or is a remake of?, an actual documentary (from the same director) about the seedier underbelly of the haunted attraction business; calling into attention the lack of background checks on some of the actors (ex-convicts being hired to play murderers), the lack of safety procedures or precautions (accidental hangings), and the dissociative tendencies some of the "scare actors" exhibit while performing. The lingering threads of this premise are seen as segments inter-cut with the journey of the group, and it's these vignettes that I wished had remained the focus of the film. I'd still love to see a genuine documentary about haunted attractions and the less savory aspects of their existence.
The Good
+ The premise and the setting is excellent
+ Some decent scares/creep-out scenes involving the "real" haunts
+ The rural setting of each haunt is perfect fodder for the creepy and unpredictable
+ Despite the one scene wherein Brandy's sexual assault is ignored, the group's interplay as friends is very believable
+ The interview/on-the-street scenes of haunted attractions and scare actors are genuinely interesting
The Bad
- Events and character's reactions to them are often unbelievable or nonsensical
- The film's premise and setting are completely wasted
- Out of the 5 main protagonists, only 3 really utilized to any effect and one entire character may as well have not existed
- There's a lot of unexplained (and inaccurate) tape/digital distortion effects in the film. Why?
The Ugly
- The film goes out of it's way to set up a truly uncomfortable attempted sexual assault on it's lone female character, and then handles it with all the grace and tact of a sledgehammer
- The non-existent ending is a lazy cop-out
