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Aiii · Oct 21, 2016

#1 - P.O.V. - A Cursed Film (2012) - 3.5/5
#2 - Satanic (2016) - 0/5
#3 - The Shining (1980) - 5/5
#4 - The Awakening (2011) - 3/5
#5 - Teketeke (2009) - 2.5/5
#6 - Teketeke 2 (2009) - 3.5/5
#7 - The Conjuring 2 (2016) 5*/5
#8 - Southbound (2016) - 2/5
#9 - The Silenced (2015) - 3/5
#10 - Evil Dead (2013) - 3/5
#11 - One Missed Call 2 (2005) - 1/5
#12 - The Neon Demon (2016) - 4/5
#13 - Sint (2010) - 3/5
#14 - Rosemary's Baby (1968) - 5/5
#15 - The Last Man on Earth (1964) - 3/5
#16 - Tag (2015) - 4/5
#17 - The Invitation (2015) - 3.5/5
#18 - Pet Sematary (1989) - 4/5
#19 - The Visit (2015) - 3/5
#20 - Krampus (2015) - 5/5

#21 - The Boy (2016)
An American woman travels to the UK to become a nanny for an eldery couple's young boy as they prepare for a trip. When she arrives, it turns out there's no actual boy as the couples young son passed away a long time ago, instead she is tasked to take care of a lifelike creepy porcelain doll... And she actually accepts this job, because reasons... No, the actual reason is she's running from her ex-boyfriend and she thinks it's just gonna be her lounging around cashing checks while she doesn't care for this doll. But of course this wouldn't be a horror movie if the doll wasn't all that lifeless as one would expect a porcelain doll to be.

Not sure what it is about possessed doll horror that freaks me out so much, maybe it's because I loved stuffed animals as a kid and I'd fantasize they were alive and my playmates all the time (hey, don't judge, my brothers were 4 and 6 year older than me and the younger one had some issues and moved out of the house by the time I was 11, I pretty much felt like an only child a lot of the time). Either way, personal emotional scars aside, this movie was quite fun. Not that much happening, but a lovely sense of mystery and suspense throughout. Most of it relying on Lauren Cohan's performance and she really helped sell the inanimate object being alive, good job Lauren.

All in all, I give this one 3.5 loud opera songs out of 5.

SeanC · Oct 21, 2016

ThirstyFly said:
Argento didn't direct Demons, despite the size of his name on the poster. He just produced it and was one of many writers. Lamberto Bava directed it.

You're right, overlooked on my part.

Ivan A Nguyen · Oct 21, 2016

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4

17) V/H/S Viral
The magic man short was trash. The other two were legit scary. This follows the 3 shorts and 1 over arching narrative. I am not sure how the 3 shorts fit into the longer one. In the past they were discovered collections of movies. This one just seems to be a broadcast truck going in circles. 2 out of 5 viral videos.

18) Army of Darkness
This is the off beat sequel of a remake of a movie franchise that had only one entry at the time. It's pretty much the horror edition of Hot Shots Part Dux. Everything is over the top. All the humor is heavy-handed. The monsters are never really scary. This would make a good Halloween movie for kids who have maybe seen a few R rated movies in their time. 3 out of 5 flesh covered books.

19) After
I was a little worried when I saw a PG-13 horror movie. I thought maybe it featured teenagers or something. The start was cringe worthy, but the movie built up from there. I even liked how they used one of the characters to make the viewers think everyone was dead very early on. The action is good and the ending wraps everything up the way you'd want it to. 4 keys on the ground in a black mist out of 5.

20) Deliver us from Evil
Based on a true story one cop told... you can guess how fantastical it gets from there. It's kind of a buddy movie if one of the guys was a homicidal justice-seeking vigilante and the other was a priest. The suspense is good and the story follows a clear narrative path. Probably one of the more believable cop stories out there involving demons and satanic rituals. 3 GTA police stars out of 5.

21) Dead Set
This was a short BBC series, but at 6 episodes it covered the length of a movie so I'm counting it. This take on zombies is a breath of fresh air. Things turn bad and the story focuses on a small group of incredibly self-absorbed characters. There seems to be a bit of big brother culture I just don't understand, but it was still a good show. 3 and a half hours of zombie goodness gives this one 4 voted off house mates out of 5.

MattyH · Oct 21, 2016

#21 Insidious Chapter 3 finally getting round to watching this big fan of the first 2 bit unsure about the whole prequel thing but il give it a go

Violence Jack · Oct 21, 2016

#25 The Blob (1988) - It's been a few years since I've seen this one, but I already had fond memories of it. The effects are great and still stand out. The movie itself is fun, frenetic, and very entertaining. Ranks up there with The Thing, The Fly, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as far as greatest horror remakes.

And

the scene with the little kid getting killed had me legit shook back in the day.

There's no fucking way I'm making it to 50 movies this year.

MattyH · Oct 21, 2016

Ivan A Nguyen said:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4

21) Dead Set
This was a short BBC series, but at 6 episodes it covered the length of a movie so I'm counting it. This take on zombies is a breath of fresh air. Things turn bad and the story focuses on a small group of incredibly self-absorbed characters. There seems to be a bit of big brother culture I just don't understand, but it was still a good show. 3 and a half hours of zombie goodness gives this one 4 voted off house mates out of 5.

yeah the Big Brother stuff is kinda old now this first went out in 2008 when big brother UK was at its peak

pitcairn55 · Oct 21, 2016

21/10/16
Film 24
Silent Night, Deadly Night

Time now to return to the theme that I started the month with: Christmas horror movies. Im getting things back underway with this fabulously cheesy 80s classic. With a plot that is very similar to the great Christmas Evil that I watched earlier in the month (kid gets traumatised by seeing Santa do something VERY naughty, and grows up to become a very naughty Santa), it wins no prizes for originality, but I think its probably going to win this months Most Gratuitous Quantity of Exposed Boobs in a Movie award. One young lady, played by magnificent scream queen Linnea Quigley, doesnt even bother putting her top back on when she goes to open the front door of the house to let the cat back in! Shocking, and perhaps not entirely realistic, behaviour.

Fun, funny, bloody, with a wonderfully festive soundtrack, the only thing really wrong with this movie is the fact that (big spoiler for the ending)

psycho Santa Billy didnt manage to plant his axe in the head of the hideous, rotten-hearted hellbeast of a Mother Superior before getting himself shot, especially as she was the character most deserving of punishment.

Highly entertaining. Now to see if the law of diminishing returns applies to the sequel.

21/10/16
Film 25
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

I shouldn't have tempted fate with that comment about diminishing returns. There were four writers on this film, and it would seem they still couldnt come up with an original screenplay that lasted more than fifty minutes, so they said to themselve Fuck it, lets not bother with a first act, lets just show an abridged version of the first film instead.

This is genuinely a novelty for me. I have never before seen a sequel that begins with what amounts to a FORTY MINUTE previously on the first movie recap. Its bizarre. The film focusses on Ricky, the younger brother of the killer in the first film. Ricky is now all grown up, and we see him being interviewed by a psychiatrist in some form of secure institution. He tells the shrink everything that happened in the first film, and so we get to see it all again, in truncated form. All the kills, only with some of the gore cut, most of the nudity (which on second viewing made me wonder if 1984 was the Year Of No Bra or something), and a ton of stuff that Ricky couldnt possibly have known about anyway because he wasnt there when his brother was on the rampage. Ridiculous. And for some reason they change the identity of one of the victims too - in the first film hes identified as Father OBrian, but in the second he becomes Old Man Kelsey, the janitor. Why? So odd.

Eventually, SNDN Part 2 starts telling its own fucking awful story. And starts getting kind of meta. Ricky finds a girlfriend and they go to the cinema, to watch a film all about this guy who dresses up like Santa Claus and kills people. At which point the camera cuts to the movie screen and we see that they are indeed watching Silent Night, Deadly Night and a loud annoying dickhead at the back of the cinema says this movies so bogus.

Hes not wrong. Hes also dead within minutes, as watching SNDN Part 1 has set Ricky off on a similar punishment rampage to the one his brother went on. Of course, no-one in the cinema notices hes just killed a guy, and when Ricky sits back down he says to his girlfriend Im starting to like this movie

I wasnt going to watch the remaining 3(!) sequels, but after this compellingly deranged load of poorly reheated leftovers I think I might, just to see where they go next!

Films I've watched so far

Aiii · Oct 21, 2016

#1 - P.O.V. - A Cursed Film (2012) - 3.5/5
#2 - Satanic (2016) - 0/5
#3 - The Shining (1980) - 5/5
#4 - The Awakening (2011) - 3/5
#5 - Teketeke (2009) - 2.5/5
#6 - Teketeke 2 (2009) - 3.5/5
#7 - The Conjuring 2 (2016) 5*/5
#8 - Southbound (2016) - 2/5
#9 - The Silenced (2015) - 3/5
#10 - Evil Dead (2013) - 3/5
#11 - One Missed Call 2 (2005) - 1/5
#12 - The Neon Demon (2016) - 4/5
#13 - Sint (2010) - 3/5
#14 - Rosemary's Baby (1968) - 5/5
#15 - The Last Man on Earth (1964) - 3/5
#16 - Tag (2015) - 4/5
#17 - The Invitation (2015) - 3.5/5
#18 - Pet Sematary (1989) - 4/5
#19 - The Visit (2015) - 3/5
#20 - Krampus (2015) - 5/5
#21 - The Boy (2016) - 3.5/5

#22 - Ouija (2014)
I wish I could ask a Ouija Board to get the last 90 minutes of my life back. 1 thread of floss out of 5.

Ridley327 · Oct 22, 2016

October 21, film 1

The idea behind The Monster Squad is good: take The Goonies and replace the Fratellis with the Universal Classic Monster roster. With the likes of Fred Dekker and Shane Black in the driver's seat, it has all the makings of a slam dunk. Sadly, the film never seems to come together as well as it should have. A lot of the problem can be traced back to the script itself, which never seems to find the right tone as to whether its an genuinely earnest attempt to bring these monsters back to life or wants to have fun at the idea's expense with some self-conscious poking at the kids adventure film boom of the time. Too often do the two do battle, which winds up killing any real emotional connection between the kids and makes the monsters themselves feel drastically underutilized in their capacity. It's kind of tough to know where the script problems end and the production issues begin, as it's really clear that there are pretty large chunks of story missing between scenes, which makes the already tenuous connections between the characters even more frayed and unconvincing. It's also mean-spirited in some surprisingly unpleasant ways, whether it's the wall-to-wall homophobic slurs inside the first 10 minutes of the film or a really bizarre blackmail scheme that amounts to posting nudes of an underage girl around town: even innocent little girls aren't immune to being called a bitch. For its numerous faults, it isn't hard to see why it's endured as long as it has, with a fun cast that's ready for whatever hits them next and some loving homages to the old films, including the faithful but expertly updated makeup on the more effects-heavy monsters, courtesy of Stan Winston. And it's hard to ignore how cheerfully anachronistic this must have felt back in 1987, where the only real counterpart it had was Fright Night. Is that really enough, though? I'd argue that it isn't, and while it can't be ignored that I'm not in the group that grew up with it, I think a lot of its fans would be hard-pressed to ignore the narrative and character issues it has. There is a lot of potential here, but it goes unfulfilled and winds up feeling very patchwork and shoddy by the end, and there's no amount of nards-kicking and thumbs up that can change that for me.

ThirstyFly · Oct 22, 2016

Hammer Vampire Double Feature

Along with Phantasm, I'm going though Hammer's original Dracula series and the The Karnstein Trilogy every year for the marathon as well. Here's 2 more for the pit.

20) The Brides of Dracula (1960) (Oct 20)

I see The Brides of Dracula tossed around a lot as one of the best Hammer horrors so I was pretty curious going into this one since it didn't have Christopher Lee's Dracula and still managed to get that much praise.

Did it live up to the hype? Well, for me, no. It's a fine movie but let's be honest here, the plot is lacking. There's a few pretty big plot elements left unresolved and the whole thing feels so much smaller than the other Hammer films I've seen.

I really hated the sequence of

Van Helsing getting bitten, then instantly curing himself by burning the bite and pouring holy water on it.

Is that even a thing in vampire lore? I wasn't crazy about the way the vampire was dispatched with just a

shadow of a cross

at the end either. It really needed a finishing blow. The whole film just felt unfinished to me.

The cast was fine though. Peter Cushing is great as usual, Yvonne Monlaur made for a fitting prey and even David Peel was good as Baron Meinster. I also liked how they kept the more wild nature of the vampires from Lee's performance in the previous movie, scampering around like rodents in the night. That's one of my favorite things about the Hammer Dracula series.

Mildly recommended.

Rating:

out 5 "What's in the basket?"

21) Twins of Evil (1971) (Oct 21)

Finishing off the The Karnstein Trilogy (until I get to Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter next year) Twins of Evil turned out to be way more fun than I had expected. I feel kind of strange saying this is better than The Brides of Dracula, but I enjoyed it quite a bit more. Am I crazy?

Peter Cushing was intense as hell in this one. The Collinson Twins were simply stunning (though their voices being dubbed did distract a bit) and Damien Thomas made for a for a great villain.

The whole thing with

Mircalla

was kind of dumb though. And where did she go? The character just disappears. Other than that, great pacing, memorable characters and gorgeous Gothic sets and costumes. Really enjoyed this one.

Highly recommended, but I might be going crazy.

Rating:

out 5 "What's in the basket?"

Fox Mulder · Oct 22, 2016

#17 The Blob (1988)
A great 80s reboot that made the most of 50s premise with brutal practical effects. I watch it every year but it needs a widespread bluray release.

#18 The Thing (1982)
Watch this all the time but just got the scream factory edition in. Very nice.

Violence Jack · Oct 22, 2016

#26 Children of the Corn (1984) - I haven't seen this since I was a kid, but it's not nearly as good as I remember. Probably due to the fact that I've since read the story that the film was adapted from. The movie isn't bad, just not all that scary. Kinda wish they'd stuck with the original darker ending.

GhaleonEB · Oct 22, 2016

Violence Jack said:
#26 Children of the Corn (1984) - I haven't seen this since I was a kid, but it's not nearly as good as I remember. Probably due to the fact that I've since read the story that the film was adapted from. The movie isn't bad, just not all that scary. Kinda wish they'd stuck with the original darker ending.

Agree all around. I find it kind of amazing that the short story spawned so many movies, and it wasn't even a very good adaptation. (I have not seen any but the original.)

DeathoftheEndless · Oct 22, 2016

18. Hush

Hush is a decent home-invasion thriller. It doesn't waste much time getting into the action, which I appreciated. The fight between the creepy stalker and the deaf woman gets pretty brutal at times. Overall, the movie isn't anything special, but entertaining enough. This would make a good double-feature with Don't Breathe (although that movie plays out quite differently).

Ridley327 · Oct 22, 2016

October 21, film 2

A ghost story that wouldn't feel too out of place in the Amblin wheelhouse, Lady in White gets a lot of points for its unwavering devotion to its idyllic period and setting, as well as taking a lot of time to develop its characters. Scares aren't really the order of the day at any point, with the film focusing more on the atmosphere of the picturesque recreation of Smalltown, USA as it has to face down the threat of a killer that has resurfaced after a botched attempt at dispatching our hero early on. Local legends are thrown into the mix to help complete the picture, which of course has to be past the boggier part of the woods and sitting on a cliff to perilous seaside depths. On one hand, anyone expecting a straight horror film is bound to be disappointed as they sift through many scenes of brotherly bonding, geriatric comic relief and a big subplot that centers on a red herring with a racial motivation to get to the film's central mystery. On the other, and this is where I fall in with, it's really not hard to like how the film isn't in a particularly big rush to get back to its mystery, as it does a good job with most of the elements I described and owns every bit of its hokey charm. To get an idea of what I mean, this is the kind of film that manages to make references to masturbation sound pleasant and quaint. It doesn't skimp on the creepier elements of the story, either, as it does manage some mild chills here and there, particularly in a moment prior to the climax that's bound to make a few people rather uncomfortable. At nearly two hours long, it can feel a bit unwieldy, and I think a lot of that has to do with the well-intended but ultimately pointless red herring subplot that touches upon the racism at the time but doesn't get the content to really help drive home its relevance to the plot, despite a bold conclusion that stands among the film's most effective moments. Nevertheless, it really impressed me that this film was able to own itself, feeling genuine and unpretentious as it tells its tale. While it's no hidden classic, its cult status is well earned and could perhaps do with a few more fans.

Films for October 22: We travel to the eastern part of Europe for a trilogy of Teutonic terror! First up is Der Fan, about a teenage girl who develops something of an unhealthy crush on a pop star. Next up is Angst, one of the most highly regarded of the realistic serial killer films of the 80s and, as it happens, an influential film for future notoriety-seeker Gaspar Noe. Finally, there is clearly nothing that is going to be icky about a film called Nekromantik, no siree!

GhaleonEB · Oct 22, 2016

#18: We Are Still Here | via Netflix streaming

Eddie Murphy has a classic standup comedy bit about white people refusing to leave obviously haunted houses. This is basically that skit, extended to 85 minutes.

Eight minutes in, the house is obviously haunted, it's obviously not nice, and they stay.
Neighbors warn them of the dark, evil history of the house, and they stay.
The entire town stares at them when they go out to dinner, and they stay.
The electrician gets attacked and burned, and they stay.
Things go bump. Footsteps are heard. Photographs are thrown. Doors slam. They stay.

And so on. This matters because if I hate the people in the movie, then it's not scary because I don't fear for them. This was never scary or tense, just lots of waiting for people to get killed.

There's a scene where a guy follows the noise into the basement, and the girl is at the top of the stairs, and she can hear the big heavy footsteps coming up behind him, and he can't until it's on top of him. Okay.

Scenes occur in vignettes, as horrible events occur, and then the scene cuts and no one ever discusses what happened. The editing is dreadful. There's an extensive backstory that is both too spelled out and somehow confusing.

In one so bad it's good moment, there's the most overdone spinning camera shot I've ever seen in a movie. We're probably talking 50 rotations in the span of 10 seconds.

Against this are a couple of good performances, and extensive out-of-nowhere, off the charts gore and splatter effects. (People literally show up just to be killed - there's not a real plot driver.) The film goes from 0-10 in that department in the 3rd act. I got enough of a kick out of it to toss on an extra star. But otherwise, this was pretty dreadful.

** out of five

Violence Jack · Oct 22, 2016

#26 Deep Red (1975) - Still just as enthralled by trying to solve the mystery as I was when I first saw this back in 2000. The version on Shudder is a slightly different edit that feels more tightly paced, while leaving out most of the comedic bits between David Jennings and Daria Nicolodi. I showed it to my fiancée and she was stumped by who the killer was, but loved how it was

pretty much shown to you in the first 10 minutes of the film if you know where to look.

Top 3 Argento for certain, and in my top 5 Giallos of all time.

EmpressInYellow · Oct 22, 2016

I tried to do another double feature - Kidnappings Gone Wrong, with No One Lives and Blood Trap. Ultimately, though, No One Lives wasn't very good, and I couldn't force myself to make it through more than about 20 minutes of Blood Trap.

No One Lives

Summary - A criminal gang (led by Lee Tergesen!) kidnaps a traveler and his girlfriend in hopes of shaking them down for cash. Unfortunately for them, the traveler happens to be an incredibly dangerous, murderous psychopath with a famous missing heiress in the trunk of his car (Adelaide Clemens, of late seen on Rectify). The killer proceeds to cut his way through the gang with gleeful abandon while the heiress looks for an opening to finally make her escape.

Thoughts - Mmm. I was mostly interested in this movie because it was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, possibly best known for his weird yakuza-meets-zombies-meets-stylized-fights film Versus. Unfortunately, this one...isn't very good. The dialogue is just awful - I'm talking distractingly bad. The characters are paper-thin, and the actors have so little to work with that their performances are mostly pretty wooden. Yet again, I didn't really care about anything that was happening because I'd been given no reason to. Both the gang and the killer are so uninteresting as characters that their ultimate fate was barely enough to elicit a shrug.

And on the relationship between the killer and the heiress - it's weird. There's a kernel of an idea there about Stockholm Syndrome and dependence, but the film plays it for pathos from the perspective of the killer. Like, his weird devotion to/obsession with her is played for actual emotion rather than creepy unease. In terms of the film's treatment of him, he's less Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode and more Liam Neeson's character from Taken trying to rescue his daughter. I honestly don't know what they were going for there.

That kind of sums up the film, really - it's all over the place in terms of tone, and I was never quite sure what they were actually going for. Some of the kills are...inventive, but that's not enough to sustain the entire movie.

There was one kinda funny line, though - the killer has just chased one of his victims through the woods and has her wounded on the ground, begging for mercy.

Victim *sobbing*: "Why are you doing this?"
Killer *shrugs*: "Keeps me fit."

mariachi507 · Oct 22, 2016

I'm currently watching The Thing and I've just now noticed that Dr. Copper has a nose ring. Mark it as a loss for me not noticing after 16 years or chalk it as a win for the new Blu-ray.

walkmetothelake · Oct 22, 2016

OP

---

Film #48 - Friday the 13th (1980)

Don't think I've given this one enough credit in the past. It's shot pretty well and the score is nice to boot. It's not mindblowing by any means but going into this rewatch I had this pegged as something that I'd struggle to get through which was far from the truth.

I'll probably get to the rest of the series (out of order probably because Netflix DVD availability for the other entries is a mess) before and maybe a bit after the end of the challenge.

Pamela is an iconic villain as well. Jason Voorhees who?

👀👀👀

Film #49 - The Brood (1979)

Trying to hop on some of that Criterion horror stuff on Hulu before it goes away.

Wow, this one was really something. Great direction and atmosphere. Just really effective stuff.

Looking forward to getting to more Cronenberg stuff in the future.

Film #50 - Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

I think I've come around to see this as my favorite Halloween sequel. There's definitely some flaws to be found here but the good elements are enough to rise above for me.

Going back to follow up Halloween and Halloween II was truly the best thing to do at the point for the series in my opinion. 4 and Curse have their moments at times but after the ending and general plot messiness of the latter, it's probably better to wipe the slate clean.

As a fan of the series as a whole (even if I didn't view most entries at release due to either not being alive or being too young), this one is so pleasing. There's a lot of homages to the original two films to be found here. It was especially nice for me to see some of the "hidden in plain sight" bits show up again as that seemed to be missing in the other sequels a fair amount. This is definitely the closest any of the post-II films get to the feel of the originals. On top of these things Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode is particularly appealing. This film makes a great cap to her character arc which for that matter completely and totally ended here thankfully (*cough*). Her transformation in this one is one is truly something and it comes together to one of my favorite endings in the genre.

There's some iffy moments to be found, still. Some of the jump scare moments were laughably bad and feel out of place in context of some of the other things going on. Also while it mostly didn't bother me too badly, I can see some people being turned off by how heavily this draws inspiration from Scream tonally and visually at times. I am however bothered that most of the score is ripped directly from both Scream and Mimic. From what I've heard of the original, I'm not sure if I'd prefer that but ideally we would have an original score for H20 that just fits the film without the need for supplementing with other material. It's also a really tacky thing to complain about but I need to bring up the masks. There's like three different masks being used here and sometimes they are showing up in the same scene. It gets really jarring at times. The corkscrew scene also has a CGI mask that is thankfully used only once but it is so bad. There's definitely some other issues to be found but those are the ones that stand out to me as a heavily biased Halloween fan.

My rating with some of my complaints might feel generous but it just feels right to me, I don't know. I guess now more than anything I really find myself liking that conclusion to Laurie Strode and what should've been the series as a whole.

It's too bad I'm such a completionist and am about to hop into Resurrection next because I'm about to be in a not so fab mood. Can't wait to write about that one (or not)!

Film #51 - Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

No.

Film #52 - The Conjuring 2 (2016)

I actually found this one a bit boring at times? It was still head and shoulders above some of the genre fare but I found myself checking the remaining time for the film multiple times.

I think a big part of this would be how similar some of these films feel. I'm sure they all have at least one or two effective "gotcha!" moments but once you've seen your first or second it becomes predictable.

This was still pretty enjoyable regardless. Maybe it was a mistake to watch it just after a weirdly misplaced nap. At the very least I'm glad it wasn't as bad as Annabelle was.

Film #53 - Halloween (2007)

Watched the theatrical cut because

I'm not here for the trash that is the escape sequence in the director's cut.

I'm all about remakes that do their own things but the first half of this still really isn't working for me. Especially when it follows in the original's footsteps as much as it does later. Going more heavily into Myers' backstory never felt like too good of an angle to take to me but I still feel it could've been executed a bit better (or at least less annoying to watch) overall. This film really beats you over the head with the whole "his family was bad" thing. It's just too bad that this film spends almost an hour (if not more) on something that's taken care of in like 10 minutes in the original.

While it isn't as much of it's own thing, the back half fares a little better. Some of the early bits in Haddonfield years later felt promising as far as this attempting to be a bit more suspenseful but sadly it wasn't followed up on. Things quickly devolve back into the splatterfest of the earlier half and it gets old after a while to see someone get absolutely wrecked and then an extended aftermath of said attack. For as huge Michael is in this, you'd think he'd actually be pretty scary or whatever but it isn't happening for me at all. Like I guess I shouldn't say he isn't scary because if I saw someone that tall charging at me, I'd probably lose it but there's definitely a lesser and different kind of effectiveness. If this was a stand alone film, the ending would've been a pretty effective end cap at least.

I really wish I appreciated this one more, especially that I've somewhat come around a bit as II being interesting for what it is. It thankfully doesn't get as boring as the A Nightmare on Elm Street or bad as the Friday the 13th remakes but this could've been so much better.

lordxar · Oct 22, 2016

Ridley327 said:
October 21, film 1

The idea behind The Monster Squad is good: take The Goonies and replace the Fratellis with the Universal Classic Monster roster. With the likes of Fred Dekker and Shane Black in the driver's seat, it has all the makings of a slam dunk. Sadly, the film never seems to come together as well as it should have. A lot of the problem can be traced back to the script itself, which never seems to find the right tone as to whether its an genuinely earnest attempt to bring these monsters back to life or wants to have fun at the idea's expense with some self-conscious poking at the kids adventure film boom of the time. Too often do the two do battle, which winds up killing any real emotional connection between the kids and makes the monsters themselves feel drastically underutilized in their capacity. It's kind of tough to know where the script problems end and the production issues begin, as it's really clear that there are pretty large chunks of story missing between scenes, which makes the already tenuous connections between the characters even more frayed and unconvincing. It's also mean-spirited in some surprisingly unpleasant ways, whether it's the wall-to-wall homophobic slurs inside the first 10 minutes of the film or a really bizarre blackmail scheme that amounts to posting nudes of an underage girl around town: even innocent little girls aren't immune to being called a bitch. For its numerous faults, it isn't hard to see why it's endured as long as it has, with a fun cast that's ready for whatever hits them next and some loving homages to the old films, including the faithful but expertly updated makeup on the more effects-heavy monsters, courtesy of Stan Winston. And it's hard to ignore how cheerfully anachronistic this must have felt back in 1987, where the only real counterpart it had was Fright Night. Is that really enough, though? I'd argue that it isn't, and while it can't be ignored that I'm not in the group that grew up with it, I think a lot of its fans would be hard-pressed to ignore the narrative and character issues it has. There is a lot of potential here, but it goes unfulfilled and winds up feeling very patchwork and shoddy by the end, and there's no amount of nards-kicking and thumbs up that can change that for me.

This was a total miss for me too. We'll let me put it this way, people I grew up with talked it up but by the time I saw it the movie just wasn't all that. It was worth a watch but could have been so much better.

excelsiorlef · Oct 22, 2016

pitcairn55 said:
21/10/16
Film 25
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

GARBAGE DAY

MWHAHAHA

ThirstyFly · Oct 22, 2016

You guys are trashing Monster Squad?

That's like the greatest movie ever, that doesn't have a robot, or a half robot/half man combo.

Aiii · Oct 22, 2016

#1 - P.O.V. - A Cursed Film (2012) - 3.5/5
#2 - Satanic (2016) - 0/5
#3 - The Shining (1980) - 5/5
#4 - The Awakening (2011) - 3/5
#5 - Teketeke (2009) - 2.5/5
#6 - Teketeke 2 (2009) - 3.5/5
#7 - The Conjuring 2 (2016) 5*/5
#8 - Southbound (2016) - 2/5
#9 - The Silenced (2015) - 3/5
#10 - Evil Dead (2013) - 3/5
#11 - One Missed Call 2 (2005) - 1/5
#12 - The Neon Demon (2016) - 4/5
#13 - Sint (2010) - 3/5
#14 - Rosemary's Baby (1968) - 5/5
#15 - The Last Man on Earth (1964) - 3/5
#16 - Tag (2015) - 4/5
#17 - The Invitation (2015) - 3.5/5
#18 - Pet Sematary (1989) - 4/5
#19 - The Visit (2015) - 3/5
#20 - Krampus (2015) - 5/5
#21 - The Boy (2016) - 3.5/5
#22 - Ouija (2014) - 1/5

#23 - Hush (2016)
Fairly competent Apple commercial that doubles as a slasher-thriller. Movie is okay, the victim being deaf gimmick makes it somewhat interesting, Facetime is amazing, you can switch from MacBook to iPhone without problems, but aside from "she's deaf" and "she a writer" we know nothing about her, did you know the iPhone accessibility feature allows for a flashing camera led so you can see someone is calling even if you can't hear? Amazing, and so I ended up giving no shits on whether she lived or died. You can even call Emergency service with Facetime so deaf people can call 911, too! It was okay.

Am I the only one that found it super weird that the friend's boyfriend that shows up halfway through the movie spent two minutes knocking on someone's window that he KNOWS is deaf? I mean, why would you even?!

3 ridiculously loud fire alarms (vibrating, for her pleasure) out of 5.

Mortimer Brewster · Oct 22, 2016

Ridley327 said:
October 21, film 1

The idea behind The Monster Squad is good: take The Goonies and replace the Fratellis with the Universal Classic Monster roster. With the likes of Fred Dekker and Shane Black in the driver's seat, it has all the makings of a slam dunk. Sadly, the film never seems to come together as well as it should have. A lot of the problem can be traced back to the script itself, which never seems to find the right tone as to whether its an genuinely earnest attempt to bring these monsters back to life or wants to have fun at the idea's expense with some self-conscious poking at the kids adventure film boom of the time. Too often do the two do battle, which winds up killing any real emotional connection between the kids and makes the monsters themselves feel drastically underutilized in their capacity. It's kind of tough to know where the script problems end and the production issues begin, as it's really clear that there are pretty large chunks of story missing between scenes, which makes the already tenuous connections between the characters even more frayed and unconvincing. It's also mean-spirited in some surprisingly unpleasant ways, whether it's the wall-to-wall homophobic slurs inside the first 10 minutes of the film or a really bizarre blackmail scheme that amounts to posting nudes of an underage girl around town: even innocent little girls aren't immune to being called a bitch. For its numerous faults, it isn't hard to see why it's endured as long as it has, with a fun cast that's ready for whatever hits them next and some loving homages to the old films, including the faithful but expertly updated makeup on the more effects-heavy monsters, courtesy of Stan Winston. And it's hard to ignore how cheerfully anachronistic this must have felt back in 1987, where the only real counterpart it had was Fright Night. Is that really enough, though? I'd argue that it isn't, and while it can't be ignored that I'm not in the group that grew up with it, I think a lot of its fans would be hard-pressed to ignore the narrative and character issues it has. There is a lot of potential here, but it goes unfulfilled and winds up feeling very patchwork and shoddy by the end, and there's no amount of nards-kicking and thumbs up that can change that for me.

I agree with you on Monster Squad's tonal inconsistency it never quite figured out where it wants to settle on the horror/comedy spectrum much like its fellow film class of 1987 The Lost Boys. Both of those films will often times and inconsistently jump back and forth from being a horror film and a comedy film in the span of 30 seconds. They are both still fun films but I find when combining those two genres, the great ones choose a dominant genre it belongs in while throwing in beats from the other genre for flavor.

You mentioned Fright Night which is a perfect example how to get it right. Fright Night makes no bones about the fact it's a horror film first and foremost. But, Tom Holland punctures the film with moments of self aware post modern meta humor and fun one liners but it always quickly returns to its horror routes and it's main goal to scare the shit out of you.

Fancy Clown · Oct 22, 2016

28) Sleepaway Camp - (Robert Hiltzick, 1983)

"I've always dreamed of a little girl just like you."

This movie is ridiculous. That is a good thing. I like how 80% of the movie is more of a goofy parody of summer camp films, and there are just smatterings of grotesque (but not too grotesque) murders throughout. And then there's the ending, which I actually knew about going in to, but seeing unfold was still something else. Even though the ending is totally ridiculous and silly, it's also pretty remarkable for how creepy it is. Fun little movie.

29) Pulse - (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001)

Would you like to meet a ghost?

There's certainly no shortage of very creepy imagery and scenes in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse. But like Cure, he is less interested in telling a grounded, plot based, thriller than exploring societal ills as manifested by something horrible. Unlike Cure however, I don't think this film was quite so successful in that regard. Ghosts are used here as a reflection for human loneliness and isolation in the post-internet era, and while that seems like a fairly apt allegory (particularly for Japan), the film kind of goes about that in a heavy handed way, and the apocalyptic nature of the film seems almost comedic at times, which hurts the very depressing and sombre tone it tries to strike. I really like how the ghosts leave shadow like stains on the walls, which feels like a haunting callback to the aftermath of Hiroshima. In the end Kurosawa's artful direction, and firm handle on the unsettling and mysterious keep the film engaging and potent beyond the limitations of its script, but it does feel like a letdown after how damn good Cure was.

Ridley327 · Oct 22, 2016

ThirstyFly said:
You guys are trashing Monster Squad?

That's like the greatest movie ever, that doesn't have a robot, or a half robot/half man combo.

I calls 'em like I sees 'em.

gabbo · Oct 22, 2016

Damn, I need to catch up. Hoping this weekend helps.
#15 Hush

So, I like the idea of turning home invasion on its head, and full disclosure, I had seen the movie like a month before hand, so I knew what to expect this time around.
It's a decently done film, and I enjoyed it, even a bit of suspense. The lead wrote herself as quite the strong, resourceful women, which is a nice change. She doesn't make too many cliched moves, and the scene of her talking herself out of different tactics is a nice touch, though it does feel a bit weird after not hearing her make a sound so for nearly an hour on screen.

I do wish however that the movie did more to play with its own medium to accentuate the fact that the main character was deaf and dealing with this. I guess pov shots from the main character would have been better. The scene in the bathroom did this really well, but was one of few.

Worth watching at least once

ehead · Oct 22, 2016

Oct. 18-20
Ash vs the Evil Dead Season 2 Episodes 1-3 (2016)

Not a movie but still awesome. They're trying to build the lore and the gore harder this time around.

Oct. 21

Black Christmas (1974)

I guess this is the movie where the line "the calls are coming from inside the house" came from. Anyway, I think it had one of the slowest burns in horror movies. The final chapter is great and there is one scene which is truly terrifying.

The eye peeking between the crease of the door.

Oct. 22

The Hidden (1987)

I don't know if this should be considered horror but it does have the elements to be considered one. For a film released in 1993, it sure feels a lot more 80s. Anyway, I think it was a good partner-cop movie. Had lots of action and good use of practical effects. Didn't feel much of the scare factor for this one but think its good nonetheless.

Edit: Got it wrong. It was indeed released in the 80s.

pitcairn55 · Oct 22, 2016

22/10/16
Film 26
Silent Night (2012)

Having watched Silent NIght, Deadly Night parts 1 and 2 yesterday, I decided against carrying on with anymore of the sequels, and instead I watched the 2012 remake. In its favour it has Malcolm McDowell in it. To counter that, it has none of the originals 80s charm. I wonder if watching this again in 30 years will make it seem like a better film. I kind of doubt it. And it turns out Malcolm McDowell is shit in this too; possibly shit on purpose it must be said, but still very much shit.

I suppose the movies not entirely useless. The gore is plentiful and entertaining, and I was glad to see the best kill in the 1984 film faithfully, if rather more demurely, recreated. As the small towns most effective cop, leading lady Jaime King is also pretty good. Shes outshone by the wonderful Donal Logue though, who actually manages to make some parts of the excruciatingly terrible script sound almost poetic.

Really though, this is a fast-forward-to-the-gore film if ever I saw one, and not a patch on the original. Plus any film that uses the lazy only horrible people listen to death metal trope gets an automatic kick in the nuts from me.

Films I've watched so far

gabbo · Oct 22, 2016

#16 Ben and Mickey Vs The Dead/The Battery

Okay, so I don't know what I expected, since I got this from a GAF'ers list from a previous year. A lot of comedic elements between the two characters, and the inevitable friction. At some point i knew it was going to take the ideas usually expressed in a tv show like Walking Dead and compress them into the running time of a film. I just didn't expect it work out as well as it did. The two leads carry things admirably and their conflicts and jokes come off as real banter and feelings between two people who were accidentally stuck together in a bad situation but eventually begin to enjoy each others company.

The last 30 or so minutes in the car is sweet, funny, and eventually kind of heartbreaking.

The one thing it wasn't was scary, but I don't mind that at all. I enjoyed the film none the less, with zombies playing the backdrop for a good character-led road movie.

Penguin · Oct 22, 2016

Penguin said:
21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Dark Floor - Pretty tense thriller, ending is whatever.

24. Stung - Started off as a really fun monster/animal attack movie, but the ending got to be a bit goofy for my taste. I liked the leads though.

25. Marvel's Hulk Where Monsters Dwell - This felt like a prolonged version of the Avengers Assemble TV show, and guess makes sense since the same people behind it. But was set on Halloween night and dealt with monsters

26. The Visit - Really nice build-up of the suspense and stuff. Reveal was about what expected.

MattyH · Oct 22, 2016

well insidious 3 absolutely sucked felt like a cheesy straight to dvd film hoping #22 As Above, So Below does better

ThirstyFly · Oct 22, 2016

gabbo said:
#16 Ben and Mickey Vs The Dead/The Battery

Holy shit. Ben and Mickey vs. the Dead? Officially the worst title change I've seen all month.

Great movie though.

Steamlord · Oct 22, 2016

My personal favorite horror title butchering is Eyes Without a Face being released in the US as The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus.

gabbo · Oct 22, 2016

ThirstyFly said:
Holy shit. Ben and Mickey vs. the Dead? Officially the worst title change I've seen all month.

Great movie though.

Yeah, at first I wasn't even sure it was the movie I had initially found on here, but thankfully it was. And I'm glad I didn't take it off my list when I learned it's original name.

DeathoftheEndless · Oct 22, 2016

19. Don't Look Now

I was looking forward to this movie for a while, but I was a little let down. The mystery itself is pretty interesting, but I found it boring for long stretches. I thought it lacked excitement until the ending, which has some nice twists on earlier scenes. I think its worth watching, but I probably won't return to it.

Violence Jack · Oct 22, 2016

#28 Lord of Illusions (1995) - It's not my favorite Clive Barker film, but it is pretty good. I felt like the movie lost a lot of steam after a really good and intriguing beginning. It still feels like a Clive Barker film through and through, plus the performances are decent. Loved the gory effects as well.

pitcairn55 · Oct 22, 2016

22/10/16
Film 27
Rare Exports

Ive been meaning to see this film for a long time, but for one reason or another I just never got round to it. Now I have got round to it Im a little disappointed. The story has a lot of potential, but the film ends up merely good when it couldve been great.

Set on the border between Finland and Russia, its the story of an ancient, evil Santa being dug up from his mountain tomb, with predictably dire consequences. While theres an excellent central performance from Onni Tommila as a young boy who has worked out whats going on but whos having trouble persuading anyone else, and plenty of clever little touches throughout the movie (the elves, for example, are a thing of genius), its still a Krampus film in which Krampus doesnt get fully involved. The trite and self-consciously quirky ending doesnt help matters either. Still worth watching though.

Films I've watched so far

Plasticine · Oct 23, 2016

Knucklebones [Oct 8]

Low budget 80s throwback that mines the territory wisecracking slashers like Freddy Krueger left barren. Starts out slow with not one, but two flashbacks before getting down to business. From there its a fast-paced romp with plenty of fun and gruesome, if somewhat cheap, practical effects work. In certain shots Knucklebones himself resembles a doctored up cheap scare mask, while others the costume works well enough. Definitely carries all the hall-marks of the horror cheapie. If you're into niceties like a tight script and good acting, look elsewhere.

The Guardian [Oct 8]

Bat-shit crazy flick from legendary director William Friedkin. You know you're in trouble when things start with not one, but two walls of expository text that don't make a lick of sense. Feels like it started as a two hour film, only for the editor to go on a coke binge and whip out a chainsaw. Plot points are blown past. Character development chucked out the window. Sequences are edited into utter incoherence. Does feature some groovy practical effects work, including an amazing killer tree and great bursts of gore.

Fender Bender [Oct 8]

Retro slasher produced by the good folks at Scream Factory. Director Mark Pavia goes full throttle with the early 80s vibe. Lots of long takes, stalking camera shots and slow burns to get to the good stuff. Feels more like a proto-slasher or early genre entry than the later era body count flicks. Despite being made for Chiller TV, a surprising amount of the red stuff is spilled during the kill scenes. The killer's S&M style costume looks like a riff on Frankenstein from Death Race 2000. Loses points for the contrived plot point and awful acting that leaves the teen protagonist stranded home alone for a weekend. But that's whatever. Features a kick-ass John Carpenter inspired soundtrack to die for.

House [Oct 10]

Troubled horror writer Roger Cobb moves into his aunt's freaky house to work through his emotional issues and complete his long gestating Vietnam opus. He soon finds himself haunted both figuratively and literally by the demons that reside within himself and the walls of his new house. Slick, playful and loaded with old-school charm. Director Steve Miner brings a light touch to the proceedings. Despite venturing into some dark places, the film retains its comedic edge throughout. William Katt does great work with the campy material he's handed, and George Wendt is a welcome presence. Nice cartoony practical effects round out an entertaining slice of prime 80s horror-comedy.

The Crazies [Oct 15]

Director Breck Eisner gives another Romero flick a super-modern, high-powered overhaul. Much like Zach Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake, Eisner eschews the politics and social commentary inherit to Romero's work. He takes the basic story, drops a super-charged Crate engine into the thing and hits the fucking road with bad intentions. We even get a Johnny Cash song to set the stage for the pseudo-zombie carnage and mayhem to follow! The film smoothly shifts gears several times, going from sequences of slasher-esque stalk and slash, quiet tension, zombie chaos and survival horror while never letting up the tension. Timothy Olyphant delivers the kind of performance he could do in his sleep as the small town sheriff with a good heart. One of the best remakes from the early days of the horror remake craze that's still going strong.

From the Dark [Oct 16]

A young couple on holiday become stranded on a muddy country road in the middle of nowhere Ireland. When darkness falls they find themselves stalked by a monstrous creature of the night. Simple, bare-bones plot that features a simple re-invention of the vampire myth that it beats to death. This blood-sucker is hurt by any bright light. Flashlights, fire, lamps; you name it. Because of its Spartan nature, the story devolves into a series of fetch quests for another light source. At ninety minutes, it outstays its welcome by about ten minutes or so. Still, entertaining enough. Plus the monstrous vampire design is a real winner. This bat-faced fuck looks like Count Orlock's ugly cousin that nobody in the family talks about much. Shame you don't get to see him much.

The Brood [October 19]

Killer tykes, rage induced tumors and the dangers of psychotherapy are the order of the day in this slab of body horror from director David Cronenberg. After two great films, this feels like Cronenberg is refining himself as a craftsman. Everything feels much slicker and more assured than his previous two outings. Howard Shore also provided his first of many Cronenberg soundtracks, which no doubt helps complete the package. Cronenberg has a way with pseudo-scientific sounding bullshit. Yes, a woman manifesting murderous fucking mutants from her flesh is the very definition of absurd, but Cronenberg makes you forget that. When Samantha Eggar is licking blood from her newborn psychic baby, you can only nod and say, of course this can happen.

Previously viewed:

1. The Exorcist
2. The Neon Demon
3. Chopping Mall
4. Most Likely to Die
5. Bats

First time viewings bold

Fancy Clown · Oct 23, 2016

DeathoftheEndless said:
19. Don't Look Now

I was looking forward to this movie for a while, but I was a little let down. The mystery itself is pretty interesting, but I found it boring for long stretches. I thought it lacked excitement until the ending, which has some nice twists on earlier scenes. I think its worth watching, but I probably won't return to it.

I looooved Don't Look Now, definitely my favorite from last year's marathon. It's definitely not an "exciting" movie with traditional scares, but there's such a sense of dread built into it that I was creeped out the whole way through, and the ending was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen. And of course the cinematography and editing are maserful, as is the use of Venice, so the whole film feels like this shadowy, labrythine puzzle where all the other characters are in on some sick joke that the central couple isn't. The scene of the sisters laughing in their room was super creepy. And the movie is a sick joke in a sense, it's a perverse and nihilistic stab at a pair of grieving parents, which definitely ups the "this is horrifying" factor for me.

Steamlord said:
My personal favorite horror title butchering is Eyes Without a Face being released in the US as The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus.

Lol the movie is pulpy, but it sure as hell isn't that pulpy.

Aiii · Oct 23, 2016

#1 - P.O.V. - A Cursed Film (2012) - 3.5/5
#2 - Satanic (2016) - 0/5
#3 - The Shining (1980) - 5/5
#4 - The Awakening (2011) - 3/5
#5 - Teketeke (2009) - 2.5/5
#6 - Teketeke 2 (2009) - 3.5/5
#7 - The Conjuring 2 (2016) 5*/5
#8 - Southbound (2016) - 2/5
#9 - The Silenced (2015) - 3/5
#10 - Evil Dead (2013) - 3/5
#11 - One Missed Call 2 (2005) - 1/5
#12 - The Neon Demon (2016) - 4/5
#13 - Sint (2010) - 3/5
#14 - Rosemary's Baby (1968) - 5/5
#15 - The Last Man on Earth (1964) - 3/5
#16 - Tag (2015) - 4/5
#17 - The Invitation (2015) - 3.5/5
#18 - Pet Sematary (1989) - 4/5
#19 - The Visit (2015) - 3/5
#20 - Krampus (2015) - 5/5
#21 - The Boy (2016) - 3.5/5
#22 - Ouija (2014) - 1/5
#23 - Hush (2016) - 3/5

#24 - Whispering Corridors (Yeogo goedam) (1998)
This Korean ghost story tells the story of a young teacher who works at her former high school. Where her friend, Jin-Ju, accidentally died after being locked in the art room by class bullies. Now Jin-Ju seems out for revenge as she starts killing several of the homeroom teachers of her former class, 3-3. We follow both the young teacher and some of the girls in class 3-3 as they encounter the ghost.

This was actually more of a drama with some ghost and mystery elements in it and it made for a very nice atmospheric movie with a bittersweet ending. Very mysterious and quite fun, I enjoyed watching this quite a bit. 3.5 carved letters out of 5.

Ridley327 · Oct 23, 2016

October 22, film 1

The original English title of "Trance" does a good job of getting to what Der Fan is all about. The obsession of our main character Simone, played to quietly chilling effect by Désirée Nosbusch, is so fiercely single-minded that it practically shapes the rest of the world into her own image. Her mind is made up, and she isn't about to let anything stand in her way of her destiny to be at the side of her beloved R (Bodo Staiger, frontman of Rheingold, who composed the music for this film). The setup seems obvious and points to a foregone conclusion, but director Eckhart Schmidt has a lot more on his mind than making a mere psycho stalker film. With a keen eye for finding the creeping menace in mundane day-to-day activities and a minimalist approach to the visuals that still manage to produce some striking imagery long before the nightmare you're waiting for finally comes around, Schmidt creates a substantial amount of unsettling vibes that never go away. But there's also a lot on the film's mind on top of that, with not-so-passing references to fascism and a lock on the strange relationship that celebrities have with their audience, with privilege and all of its consequences. Anyone seeking more traditional shocks will certainly get them by the end of the film, but the restraint on display here is truly remarkable, which makes the more outwardly morbid moments feel even more intense and upsetting. It's a lot more to unpack than the premise suggests, which is a testament to how well made the film is and how much that they're able to do with the themes on display. With such a high level of craft, it's crazy that it's taken the film this long to start finding an audience of any kind, let alone a cult audience, but with it being as challenging as it is and using one major exploitation aspect (female nudity) to its advantage to achieve an even more unnerving layer (Nosbusch was a mere 16-years old when she made this, making this one of the more genuine teenager performances out there), it's likely going to be a little while still before it gets its time in the sun. But after watching this, I'm absolutely convinced that this little marvel is going to get there.

lordxar · Oct 23, 2016

Wind Chill. This was ok to meh. I found it kind of a boring ghost story. Premise is that two people get stranded in sub zero temperatures after a car accident on some shitty shortcut highway.

Ridley327 · Oct 23, 2016

October 22, film 2

Relentless and blood-curdling, Angst is about as close as anyone should ever come to seeing what a serial killer goes through with a spree, and even then, it's going to way too visceral for most to be able to stomach. Based on a real life killer, the film establishes a kind of verisimilitude by presenting itself as both an expert testimony on the killer's actions, as well as hearing it straight from the man himself. Doom is inevitable, but knowing that things are going to be bad for his last batch of victims doesn't prepare you for the lengths that the film is willing to go to show the killer's compulsion in all its horrific glory. Further aiding the grim reality the film presents is its outstanding camerawork, which feels so ahead of its time that it's hard to imagine that the film is more than 30 years old with how much of its style has been redistributed by other modern filmmakers, particularly Gaspar Noe. What's surprised me is how long the film goes without a graphic killing, letting the central performance from Erwin Leder be enough until everything falls apart and erupts. I'm not sure if that's restraint per se, given how nasty the film feels before its big scene of violence (which, I'll warn would-be viewers, gets really, really bad) and even after it, but for something that feels this intense, I'm not sure it would have done the film any credit to be even more outwardly graphic. It's unlike anything I've seen in this specific sub-genre, and while that's probably a good thing, it also helps to make it stand alone and even heads and shoulders above the rest for its sheer commitment and craft in creating such a meticulous staging of such a ghastly ordeal without feeling once exploitative. It's a great film, but I am going to need even stronger nerves to watch it again anytime soon.

Plasticine · Oct 23, 2016

Shin Godzilla [October 22]

Talky reboot of Japan's favorite giant, radioactive lizard. Directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi seem way more interested in making the many layers of Japanese bureaucracy more terrifying than the big green guy himself. While the unexpected moments of bureaucratic humor are nice, you can't help but wish they'd get on with the smashing. Probably about three quarters of the two hours are devoted to dudes in suits talking. This is especially frustrating since so much care was given to re-imaging the Big G. Godzilla here goes through multiple incarnations, with strange new wrinkles (and plenty of derpy looking faces!) introduced to the mythos throughout his various stages. When Godzilla does finally get down to smashing shit, the scenes of destruction are among the most riveting in the series.

Previously viewed:

1. The Exorcist
2. The Neon Demon
3. Chopping Mall
4. Most Likely to Die
5. Bats
6. Knucklebones
7. The Guardian
8. Fender Bender
9. House
10, The Crazies
11. From the Dark
12. The Brood

First time viewings bold

Penguin · Oct 23, 2016

Penguin said:
23. Dark Floor - Pretty tense thriller, ending is whatever.

24. Stung - Started off as a really fun monster/animal attack movie, but the ending got to be a bit goofy for my taste. I liked the leads though.

25. Marvel's Hulk Where Monsters Dwell - This felt like a prolonged version of the Avengers Assemble TV show, and guess makes sense since the same people behind it. But was set on Halloween night and dealt with monsters

26. The Visit - Really nice build-up of the suspense and stuff. Reveal was about what expected.

27. Cube
28. Cube 2: Hypercube

Chiller had a marathon with these 3 films, but could only watch the first 2 due to time. Pretty good isolated/thrillers. I prefer the first with them trying to figure out and test the Cube. The 2nd is more sci-fi in nature and sterile in design, but still enjoyble.

Violence Jack · Oct 23, 2016

#29 Pet Semetary (1989) - Almost 30 years later and this movie is still fucked up. Jud Crandall is one of my favorite horror movie characters ever. I still can't understand why you wouldn't build a damn fence around your house if there were enough pets who constantly run out into the road. Top 3 Stephen King adaptation.

Rhomega Beta · Oct 23, 2016

22. Hush (2016, mandatory)

I was expecting a silent movie here based on the fact that the main character is deaf. The movie is certainly tense and I was constantly wondering if Maddie would wind up dead in the end (as recent movies are wont to do) because the movie goes back and forth like that. Overall, good movie.

Wait, the killer isn't Craig? I thought that's why he took off the mask when he saw the lipstick on the glass, because he knew she was lying about a boyfriend. I thought there was dialogue about how she shouldn't have broken up with him. That would have made the killer more interesting, because even though he's a psycho, he's a psycho with a motive who doesn't just kill for kicks and giggles.

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Up next: 2 groovy movies.

Ridley327 · Oct 23, 2016

October 22, film 3

poster for Nekromantik said:

(spoiler bar for blatantly NSFW reasons)

Nekromantik certainly runs with a wide gamut of atrocities: roadside accidents, specimen jars, bathing in blood, corpse robbing, corpse fucking, murder of human and animal alike, and what I can only describe as auto-erotic disembowelment. While most of it is as silly as it sounds, save an unpleasant scene of repurposed documentary footage of a rabbit breeder going into great lengths to show how a rabbit gets skinned and cleaned, there's an implied question of "to what end?" for everything the film shows off. Chalk it up to the visible amateurism of the production itself, or chalk it up to filmmakers more interested in grossing out viewers than doing anything even a little bit interesting with whatever they might, but that question goes unanswered. While a short film at just over 70 minutes long, it still has a lot of trouble justifying itself, coming off as being a few different short films of equal ick strung together with an absolutely threadbare plot that seems to be making it up as it goes along. While it's not necessarily without some talent, it is really hard to recommend on the simple fact that it's clearly a first film from folks with little experience and more of a desire to shock than engage. In the end, a memorable bad film is still a bad film.

Films for October 23: Who could do an 80s marathon without diving into some Stephen King adaptations? No one, that's who! We begin with the wildly popular Pet Sematary, often imitated and, as it turns out in my case, totally free thanks to T-Mobile Tuesdays. Next, we turn our attention to a pair of auteur-driven adaptations: David Cronenberg's adaptation of The Dead Zone and, as if I was going to miss the chance to see this in a theater, Stanley Kubrick's take on The Shining.

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