Dascu said:

(day 5) The Dark Half - This film is an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, directed by George Romero. It's about a writer being tormented by his pseudonym (which he used to write trashy but successful novels) come to life. This pseudonym is his "dark half", a violent character without morals. It later turns out that this all has something to do with a twin brother who was growing inside of his head, like a tumor, but was removed when he was a boy. This "dark half" starts murdering people close to the main character, but eventually dies by being pecked to death by a flock of mean sparrows (it's both silly and creepy). There's a handful of tense moments (an early dream sequence for instance), but that's about it. The main problem that I have with this film, and with many other Stephen King novels/adaptations, is that the story felt like it would've been better if it had been more ambiguous, more focused on the psychological side of things. Up until about halfway through the film, it's still possible that this magical "dark half" is in fact just a schizophrenic alternate personality of the main character. Then the film could've been interesting as a psychological horror story. 1 out of 4 stars, decent.

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The book was really good even with the silly pseudonym premise. I agree the movie just doesn't work, which is sad since there are two great horror minds involved in the project (King and Romero). Timothy Hutton just phones it in, it doesn't feel like he commited to the project at all. Really sad for a former Oscar winner.

Jme said:

In doing some research for good/interesting films for this 31 day joyride I came across House/Hausu:

Recently released on Criterion Collection too, so we've got a great HD transfer to watch. Plus that gives it some merit as a film, right?

So, has anyone seen it before, and if so, do you recommend it? It seems very up my alley, as I am a huge fan of Japanese art.

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If you like japanese art you may enjoy it but yeah its not a horror film. If this is a horror film then the Scooby Doo movies and those stupid Scary Movies are horror flicks as well. Its a fun watch but yeah....its really silly.

Watch it, cause yeah you may love it. I plan on watching Fido, Shaun of The Dead and Ernest Scared Stupid and yeah they arent really horror movies.

Ridley327 said:

Hatchet is a really good example of a filmmaker not getting the period that he or she is trying to evoke. Hatchet is a movie made by someone who watched a bunch of slasher films from the 80s, not a film that could have been made in the 80s.

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I feel like I understand what you're saying, but I'm probably misunderstanding. As usual.

Outside of the "old-school American horror" nonsense that Green used to market the movie, was Hatchet intended to be a throwback in the same way, say, Piranha 3D or House of the Devil were intended to be?

Along those lines, do you feel that those two were more successful?

mariachi507 said:

If you haven't seen Bride, you should make it a priority.

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I haven't and I will!

fludevil said:

I'm in the minority on this one, but I agree that they matched the style of the early 80's exactly. But:

The last half hour seems as rote as it can get. I was greatly disappointed. And it wasn't the slow burn, I was very pleased with the pacing. That works.

Also, the title screen before the movie:

Spoiler

concerning devil worshippers

. Now you spend the whole movie knowing exactly what the bad guys are about, which I thought was a strange choice.

Spoiler

When they showed the title card, I immediately thought of that nightmare Tom Hanks has in The Burbs of your typical cult offering. Sit through the whole movie, and that's almost all that was waiting for me at the end.

Over all, loved the style, but then it turned into generic horror movie. Not a bad thing, but certainly not great.

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I'm right there with you! I had the DVD in the player to let it queue up while was brushing my teeth and such, and I couldn't believe they were showing that! Tom Noonan was awesome in it (and I watched this movie the night before the episode of Louie that he was in), but outside of that I had little to enjoy in this movie. I'm jealous of those who did get the full experience and really enjoyed the flick -- I feel a bit cheated.

#3 Fritt Vilt aka Cold Prey (2006)



meh it was ok. Just another generic modern slasher.

I just want a movie that will scare (or maybe creep) the shit out of me. Where can I get that?

#5 Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (5th October) (Or Sexy Nights of the Living Dead, or Where Did That Cork Go?)


I know I said I'd watch something scary, but I couldn't pass up on this, at least it has 'of the Living Dead' in the title so it's suitable for our needs.
Hey, what do you know about Cat Island? I dunno but when I mention it to hookers they flee without taking my money. I should use this line more often!
Tom Selleck* has bought Cat Island for 20 million bucks and wants to turn it into a tourist resort and stick a helipad on a cemetery there without exhuming the corpses. Hey, that's always a good idea. Turns out there's some weirdness going on there that the locals are afraid of, things like puffy-faced Zombies with maggots on their heads and custard for blood. Tom Selleck hires George Eastman to sail him there and investigate, because the locals must be making this shit up to scare tourists away. Silly Tom Selleck.
Well anyway there is a LOT of fucking, accompanied by the most hilarious lounge-jazz that can't keep playing at a constant speed and sounds like Air's interpretation of the Fantasy Zone theme. This is fucking circa 1980, so everyone is all-natural, and reveals the most horrific thing about the film. The genital warts. OH GOD THE GENITAL WARTS. Go to a fucking doctor, Tom! These scrotal buds empty each sex scene of passion, and you just end up fast-forwarding through them. *shudder*
Oh yes, Zombies, well it takes a long time to get to them and they turn up to terrorise Tom, who pulls off one's face, decapitates another and stabs one more before escaping the hut, then casually strolls to the beach as if nothing's wrong. There he meets a beautiful lady, who bites off his dick, then the Zombies get him THE END.

5 Genital Warts out of 10

*Tom Selleck does not appear in this film.

# 11 The Frighteners - (Oct 5)



~ I'm very fond of this 1996 Peter Jackson film featuring Michael J. Fox... For me, it strikes a great balance between horror and humour, blending a chilling and thrilling tale of a spectral mass murderer with some amusing characters, a light-hearted take on the afterlife, and some great special effects. Highly recommended!

icarus-daedelus said:

Bravo. Can't really go wrong with Vincent Price. Have you seen A Bucket of Blood? Corman's finest hour imo.

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It's on netflix right? I'm going to add it to the list.

4) Dark Age (1987)



This Austrailian killer-crocodile flick is more of an action/adventure than a monster movie, with the few attack scenes being fairly bloodless, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. No campy nonsense, well-acted (John Jarratt of Wolf Creek fame stars) and fairly well-made, it has a little more going for it than most of these types of films, certainly miles beyond the cookie-cutter SyFy crap we see now. 6.4/10

I have also been participating, here are the movies I have watched so far.

1. The House of the Devil- 9/10 This movie was great, it was so tense the entire time...her by herself in the house is so nerve-racking.

2.Fire in the Sky- 8/10- This movie was also great, loved the opening scene and also thought they did a great job with the Aliens and not going overboard with them. I liked that the aliens looked different then the typical aliens and that they only have those big eyes because thats there space suits.

3.Cropsey- 8/10 Not a scary movie, but it was very interesting, scary to know that something like this happened/can happen. When they start linking all the cases to older ones from over 10 years ago it gets serious and its not just about one kid anymore.

4.Suspiria- 8/10 I was a little lost at first and then it really picked up. As soon as she decides not to eat her meal, and counts the steps, it gets intense and has awesome atmosphere.

#5 American Psycho 2 (October 5th)
IMDB lists it as a horror film, so I did the same.
Just a terrible sequel. I'd even call it the worst sequel ever, as American Psycho is one of my favorite films of all time. Acting was awful, terrible soundtrack, god awful humor and kills that aren't fun or neat. Awful, awful film. Stay far away from this.
EDIT: Actually never mind not classified as a horror. So will watch something else.

#5 - Cigarette Burns (Masters of Horror, Season 1) (Oct 5)



Cigarette Burns interested me because it was directed by John Carpenter. It reminded me of the movie 8mm, since in both cases the protagonist get a job to research about a certain rare film (and go through hell during this mission). In Cigarette Burns the protagonist is on a mission to find this rare film which makes the audience go suicidal. It was definately a movie with alot of suspense and it kept building up for the ending. This was a decent and short movie, but I must say that the flashes that kept popping up in the movie did give me a headache.

#14 Midnight Meat Train (2008) - Oct 5th


This is one of those movies that comes out on DVD, then never, ever goes on sale. Well, there's no fucking way I'm paying 20$ for a DVD these days. Instead, I played the waiting game with this flick. The weeks turned to months, and the months turned into years. I finally see it on sale for 5.99$ and it's total vindication! I had my eye on this flick stricktly due to the positive reviews that some of my respected horror critics gave it. It had a very limited theatrical release and was pushed to DVD ASAP.

This movie is based on a short story by Clive Barker. Now, Clive hasn't had a good movie based on his writings since the first Hellraiser movie (IMO). The HR sequel was pretty good too, but the series petered out and eventaully had nothing to do with anything he wrote, being handed over to Hollywood writers instead. This movie restores my faith that creating a good Clive Barker movie is still posible.

This movie is about a killer that boards a subway train at night and bludgens people to death and butchers them like cattle. An up and coming photographer is on the edge of making a career out of his art, but he keeps being pushed by the hottest art critic in town (Brook Sheilds) to keep upping the ante on his voyeristic style. This evetually leads the photographer to discover the Butcher and unravel the mystery surrounding him. The film eventually enters the realm of the fantastic, where Clive Barker's twisted stylings are fully realized. The movie left me satisfied like very few modern horror movies have. Keep in mind that this is Clive Barker, so not everything is explained in detail, instead leaving the viewer to ponder several aspects surrounding the main story.

This was a fantastic role for Vinnie Jones, who plays the Butcher. He's big and kills lots of people in gruesome ways. Everyone else did above average in their respective roles as well. Once I was able to relax due to the good acting, I focused next on special effects. CGI gore -1. However, there were plenty of practical effects as well. The gore was fast and often surprising. Overall production was easily worthy of a nationwide release. I noticed that a large number of the killings were shot from the point of view of the victims, which was pretty damn original and resulted in some cool effects.

This is the first American movie directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, who has a couple of decent Japanese horror flicks under his belt. Seriously, half way through the movie I looked at my wife and told her that there was no way the director of this movie was American. It just has an entirely differnt feel to it. Midnight Meat Train was a box office bomb, so I hope he doesn't dissappear after this.

I'm tempted to give this a 9, but as entertaining as the story was, it was still a little straight forward. Plus, the 3rd act will either make or break the movie for a lot of people. Factoring all that into my final score leaves it at an 8/10.

#15 Prince of Darkness (1987) - Oct 5th


A priest discovers a cylinder full of satan underneath an old church. He recruits a college professor and his classroom of students to help avert the coming of the anti-God. As the prophecy nears completion, creepy stuff starts happening in the old abandonded church and the surrounding area.

I have to get this off my chest first...

The credits continue to roll 12 minutes into the movie. 12 minutes. I'm totally fucking serious. That has got to be some kind of record.

This was written and directed by John Carpenter, who has made such horror classics as Halloween, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. I mentioned these 3 particular movies because Prince of Darkness contains elements of all 3 of those films. The music is straight the fuck out of The Thing. I could close my eyes and I would think it was the exact same score. The old doctor from Halloween plays the old priest in this. Finally, the hardest to get over, were the two chinese actors from Big Trouble in Little China. I'll call them the old one and the young one. You'll know them when you see them. Oh yeah, Alice Cooper makes a cameo as a possessed homeless man.

I don't think this movie has aged nearly as well as many of Carpenter's earlier films. The story, while original, just dosen't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. It is rushed at parts and spends too much time lingering in others. The "love story" consists of the guy asking the girl out, then que waking up the next morning in bed together. Literally, that's how it happens. Then they proceed to act like an old married couple, which is about as far from realistic as you can get when you wake up next to someone you just met and fucked less than 8 hours ago.

I also caught onto kind of a weird stereotype that was thrown in there. At one point, the homeless in the area all stand single file around the church. A woman who apparently knows a lot about psychological issues is observing them and says something like "That's weird, paranoid schizophrenics usually cannot stand still because they have so many obsessive compulsive routines they go through". My first thought was "Hey lady, not every homeless person is a paranoid schizophrenic!"

I thought the ending was alright, so that is something.

I know I just spent all this time dogging the movie, but I cannot help but have a campy effection for it despite all it's flaws. Maybe it's the way they tried to weave mathmatics and physics in with relgion and an end of days prophecy. I'm not sure. It sure wasn't the characters. I din't really care about a single one of them. I remember seeing this late at night when I was a kid and it just kind of stuck in my head. At the time, I thought it was great!

I would end up with a 6.5/10 for the movie. If I took out my feelings of nostalgia, it would probably be more like a 5/10.

#16 Deathwatch (2002) - Oct 5th


The story is set during WW1. A group of British soldiers gets cut off from it's detachment after going over the wall for some good old fashioned trench warfare. The group ends up discovering a mostly unguarded German trench. They take a prisoner and settle in to wait for the British Army to catch up to them. There's only one problem... THE TRENCH IS FUCKING HAUNTED DUDE!

Amazingly, it works.

The setting is the classic formula of seclusion, paranoia, and disturbing setting. The setting of the WW1 trench actually steals the show. It's nothing but mud, rain, rats, and barbed wire. At one point, I actually felt sorry for the actors in this movie because they were shin deep in mud and had so much rain being poured over thier heads that it would stream in thier eyes and over thier mouths as they talked. It rained the entire fucking movie too! It must've been cold too beacause I could see thier breath on the air whenever they spoke at night time. This movie must've been absolute hell to make.

As the creepy stuff starts happening, it's done rather convincingly. It starts small, with noises and shadows, but eventually ratches up to some respectable effects and original scares. It's best to think of this movie as a 90 minute episode of The Twilight Zone/Tales From the Crypt/ect.

It might have gone on about 10 minutes longer than it needed, but overall this was a very enjoyable movie. It gets a solid 8/10 from me. I think this may be on Netflix right now too. I highly recommend it.

#17 Undead (2002) - Oct 5th


A small town in Australia is hit with meteors that turn people into flesh eating zombies. The survivors meet up at the home of a crazed, gun toting local who has been preparing for just such an occassion after he was kidnapped by aliens. They eventually leave the house and make the discovery that perhaps the crazy local isn't so crazy afterall...

The movie is advertised as being kind of a tongue in cheek zombie movie in the same way as Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive" ("Bad Taste" to non-Americans ie: terrorists). I guess that's an ok comparison to make as long as it refers strictly to the dark humor and in no way compares it to anything else that is the awesomness of "Dead Alive". The movie has a couple of problems holding it back. It's either absurd or funny, but never absurdly funny. Long stretches go by without anything remotely funny taking place and then you have a silly comment being made from one character to the other as if to remind you that this is supposed to be funny. Also, the special effects were a mixed bag of either barely passable or just plain terrible.

It's as if the creators thought of cool shit they wanted in the movie and added it as they went along. "Do you know what would be cool?" "Let's put 4 shotguns linked together in the movie so they all fire at once and it cuts zombies in half!". This kind of stuff happens at random, for no reason, far too often, and with no explaination what so ever.

You know what really I hated? The picture on the box cover (not poster above) is like, the last scene in the fucking movie. I hate that shit.

It's hard to recommend this one because it's so disjointed. At least they tried to spice up the zombie genre a bit with an original idea (too orignial?). My wife rolled her eyes through the entire movie and ended up reading a magazine while I finished the last 30 minutes. Hardcore zombie fans should give it a rental, everyone else should pass. Undead gets a 4/10

#5 The Wolf Man (October 5th)



Impressions: Lon Chaney Jr. is such a baller in this movie...at least in the beginning. The process of him realizing that he is indeed the wolf man is done very well. the one thing with these old movies is how soon they end, so abrupt. i'd like to have seen more of the wolf man, but it takes more than half the movie to get there. still, it's a classic and a def must see.

B-Dex said:

1 - Insidious
2 - Cat People (80s Version)
3 - Prince of Darkness
4 - Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight
5 - Sleepaway Camp
6 - Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde (on TCM)

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7 - Fright Night

Was unaware Marcy from Married with Children was the girlfriend. It threw me off the entire film. It was campy and fun and the gruesome bits were well done.

8 - Friday the 13th: Part 2
9 - Friday the 13th: Part 3

I'd never seen any of the sequels so I'm going to watch them all! 2 didn't make sense in the 2nd half cause half the cast was just written out. 3 was the 3D one and seemed to drag on and on and the motorcycle gang seemed half-assed and added in after the fact.

I was surprised to see it took until the 3rd film for

#7 - Nosferatu (Oct 5)

There's not much to say about this one that hasn't already been said. It's a masterpiece of horror. It's dripping with atmosphere, and Orlok is probably the scariest vampire I've ever seen.

The version I'm accustomed to has an all-organ soundtrack, but this time I watched it on Netflix Instant and it had a weird synthesizer/percussion soundtrack that lined up with the film and everything. While it certainly fit the individual scenes better and made everything more dramatic, I think I prefer the general moodiness of the organ version I'm used to.

Oh, and the translations in this version were terrible.

#5 - The Stuff - October 5th



...was it really that bad. Do the math, a low calorie delicious food substance. A weight loss phenomenon. A cure for world hunger. The families seemed to become closer together over their love of The Stuff. Side effects like an unnatural obsession to the all natural substance and a gooey interior don't seem all that bad.

The movie works a lot better than it really should. Think about it horror movie fans, we are more likely to be killed by something that we invite into our bodies (Big Macs, KFC Double Downs, Twinkies) then what slasher films would lead us to believe (machetes, axes and acid). Sure it seems like this movie was edited by one of those machetes. Sometimes it's confusing what occured from one scene to the next but I stayed invested in the film mostly due to the strength of the cast. "Mo" Rutherford is the perfect catalyst to the story and supporting players like Paul Sorvino and Garrett Morris as Chocolate Chip Charlie are fantastic.

A fun film to watch if you want a night light on scares and make sure you watch it like I did with a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream in hand.

Movie #5: The Howling (dir. Joe Dante)

So, my only exposure to the franchise until tonight has been The Howling II, in which Sybill Danning makes a midget's eyeballs explode with terrible magical lightning bolt effects and our hero is the guy from Space Mutiny. Under normal circumstances, this would be enough to put anyone off werewolves forever, let alone films from this series. I will also admit to a certain kind of willful ignorance due to the existence of the other werewolf film from 1981, An American Werewolf in London; how could any other werewolf film hope to live up to that masterpiece? Joe Dante, who still somehow manages to be underrated to this very day, answers that with a wonderful smirk and winking brow that permeates virtually every frame. More of a slow burn than I was anticipating, The Howling does a fantastic job of balancing sly humor and sight gags (could anyone possibly keep count of the wolf-related product placement in the film?) with scenes of genuinely gripping and tense suspense. It's certainly a much more playful and good-spirited film than its distinguished competition, but broadening horizons is the point of a marathon like this, and I'm glad I was able to get over one bad experience to find a film that does me one better than complimenting An American Werewolf in London: they're two sides of the same coin. This is certainly the best film I've seen thus far.

Next movie: speaking of underrated filmmakers, Dan O'Bannon makes the most of his immediate Alien fame with a more "down to earth" project...

Been having a bear of a time keeping up, folks. But don't count me out!

Movie #2: Silver Bullet.


I used to watch this move probably once a week in my teens. True, that was a long time ago, but I was surprised how much of it I remembered. Watching it now though, in my 30's, brought a lot more texture and perspective to it. I could appreciate it as more than just a werewolf movie, I would say. It's actually really well written and it has some really believable characters. I love the crazy drunk Uncle.


Speaking of ol' crazy alcoholic Uncle, this is the movie that made my young mind at the time realize that my ability to tell Nick Nolte from Gary Busey was completely defective. They dwell in the hazy faerie-realm also occupied by such celebrity twosomes as DeNiro/Pacino (Though I can now differentiate the two with just a bit of effort) and Micheal Douglas/Kurt Russel (I don't even know why I have a hard time with these two).

I really do recommend this one, though. It's heady mix of small town Americana and a big fucking Werewolf are irresistible to me and I count it among the best Werewolf films of all time.

icarus-daedelus said:

I'm just thinking we need something appropriately romantic for Forever Alone/Valentine's Day.

But yea, I'm down for 12 Days of Sleaze. I must catch up on my Roger Corman women in prison films after all.

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If you have any ideas for something workable for Valentine's day I'd love to hear it. I can't really think of anything outside of watching movies like My Bloody Valentine or just going complete exploitation sleaze and watching stuff like Last House on the Left and House on the Edge of the Park but I don't think anyone is going to want to do a vile marathon like that.

Eric Hall said:

Day 3: Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Years before I started really watching horror movies, my older brothers marathoned all the older Freddy movies before the release of Freddy vs Jason. I remember them saying how much they hated New Nightmare so I never really had any interest in watching it for a long. After hearing some positive word about the film, I decided to sit down and watch it (along with another meta horror film, Scream) and came away from it feeling pretty good about it. Heather Lagenkamp was great in the film, as was Robert Englund (But he was always great in these movies) and although the idea itself is cheesy (Freddy invades the real world) it never felt like the other films in the series. The only problem I have with the film is that is sometimes a little too slow moving when Freddy is not around, but besides that it is an interesting take on the Freddy character and certainly better than most of the other films in the series.

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Glad to see you enjoyed New Nightmare. The original, Part 3: Dream Warriors and New Nightmare (and possibly FvJ...) are the only movies in that series I think are legitimately good films (and I do love the series). The rest are just okay (4-5) or just awful (2 & 6). It was awesome to see a return to a more dark Freddy (like parts 1 & 2), but I did think New Nightmare lost a bit of steam at the end though.

Ward said:

#2 They Live
A cool concept that made for a fun movie. I liked the make up and message. It would rank higher for me if Kurt Russell was in it. If you get a chance, watch it.

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As much as I enjoy Kurt Russell's performances, I really think Roddy Piper made that movie. Hell, we wouldn't even have the bubblegum line if it wasn't for him. And how about that awesome fight scene? Classic.

GhaleonEB said:

#4 | Ghoulies | via Netflix streaming

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God, I saw Ghoulies and the first sequel so many times as a kid, but I can't remember it at all. I don't think I've seen 3 or 4 either. I'm hoping they'll release one of those cheap 4 packs for it soon like they did for things like Critters and Leprechaun.

B-Dex said:

8 - Friday the 13th: Part 2
9 - Friday the 13th: Part 3

I'd never seen any of the sequels so I'm going to watch them all! 2 didn't make sense in the 2nd half cause half the cast was just written out. 3 was the 3D one and seemed to drag on and on and the motorcycle gang seemed half-assed and added in after the fact.

I was surprised to see it took until the 3rd film for

Spoiler

Jason to get his mask.

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I can't wait to see what you think of Part 5 and 6. They both make some pretty serious changes to the series. Part 6 is my personal favorite as well.

I felt like something light and easy to digest today so I started on Masters of Horror for the first time since the episodes are short. Finished off 2.



#5 Cigarette Burns (Masters of Horror)

Cigarette Burns starts off with a pretty interesting premise, a movie theater owner is hired to find the lone print of a movie thought to be destroyed that causes it's audience to fall into a murderous rage. Unfortunately the runtime of the episode doesn't allow the plot room to breath at all, so every bit of conflict is solved way too conveniently (or stupidly, depending on how you want to put it) and it's filled with some of the most absurd choices they could make ( ... seriously?). Overall, wasted potential and not a good way to begin my viewing of the series.



#6 Dreams in the Witch-House (Masters of Horror)

Now we're talking. I'm a HUGE fan of Stuart Gordon's adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator so him doing another Lovecraft story had me going in with high expectations and man did he deliver. Gordon kept up a brisk pace and the tension was handled quite well. The final act was so dark I actually felt a little uneasy about what was going on. Crazy stuff, I highly enjoyed it.

ThirstyFly said:

If you have any ideas for something workable for Valentine's day I'd love to hear it. I can't really think of anything outside of watching movies like My Bloody Valentine or just going complete exploitation sleaze and watching stuff like Last House on the Left and House on the Edge of the Park but I don't think anyone is going to want to do a vile marathon like that.

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We need to have a kung fu/action month.

6. Trick 'r Treat



I just watched Trick 'r Treat....god damn! Its the perfect Halloween movie. I loved every second of it. Whats not to love, a little pumpkin boy, sexy werewolf women, a person that kills kids, and a kick ass little girl that respects Halloween. I felt bad for the girl that dressed as a witch, but the kids that pulled the prank on her got what they deserved. Trick r Treat now has got a place in my heart as one of my favorite movies of all time. It was Perfect!

#6 Scream 4

Did Wes Craven find his old self and actually make a good movie? Yes, yes he did. The leads were fantastic and the killers were very believable. I was actually caught off guard when the killers took off their mask. Never expected it.

So rankings are Scream>Scream 4>Scream 2


and spoiler

#5 - The Return of the Living Dead - Never saw this movie before (to be perfectly honest, I don't watch that much horror movies at all) but damn! This film hit me with so much B-Movie nostalgia, I enjoyed it alot. From the zombies, graveyard/mortuary/medical warehouse, and to what I really love the most, the colorful punk cast. (They remind me of the cast of the game, Maniac Mansion) You don't see those type of characters anymore but I love it. Everything just felt right with this movie til the ending. I wish it was dealt better but I'm ok with it.

Should I bother with the sequels?

Fuck no!

CaptYamato said:

Fuck no!

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All I need to hear. Thanks dude!

I just found that Wolfen is streaming on Netflix. That's tomorrow's movie. Haven't seen it in ten years, but I still remember it well. I get uneasy just thinking about it.

THE NO LIFE KING said:

#5 - The Return of the Living Dead - Never saw this movie before (to be perfectly honest, I don't watch that much horror movies at all) but damn! This film hit me with so much B-Movie nostalgia, I enjoyed it alot. From the zombies, graveyard/mortuary/medical warehouse, and to what I really love the most, the colorful punk cast. (They remind me of the cast of the game, Maniac Mansion) You don't see those type of characters anymore but I love it. Everything just felt right with this movie til the ending. I wish it was dealt better but I'm ok with it.

Should I bother with the sequels?

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Return of the Living Dead 2 replaces the over-the-top B-movie fun with more silly slapstick humor and it's more family friendly (way less gore and no nudity). I like the fact that it plays on the fact that the zombies are rotting corpses and a lot of the gags revolved around that. Personally I think it's decent, but it's generally not well liked and it doesn't contain any of what you said you liked about RotD1. Although it shares the title and some of the same actors (playing different characters) it's not really connected to #1 as it was an unrelated movie and rewritten to tie it into RotD1.

Return of the Living Dead 3 is a whole different monster. It takes the invincible zombie idea from the first movie and builds on that. It has some cool ideas and crazy practical effects but originally I thought it was a little dull at times. It's something I need to rewatch though, I may actually enjoy it more with the way my tastes are now.

Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis & Rave to the Grave were shot back-to-back and feature the same main characters, though neither movie is actually connected. They're more like alternate world versions of each other. Both are pretty bad, but I did think Necropolis had some nice nods to the original movies so it's worth checking out for big fans of the series. I don't recall there being anything noteworthy about Rave to the Grave other than the return of .

Short answer: Not really. Maybe RotD3.

#1 House of the Devil- 8.0/10
#2 Fire in the sky- 6.5/10
#3 A Tale of Two Sisters- 9.5/10
#4 Suspiria- 7.5/10

#5 Dagon



So I finally have seen it. I've known about this movie for a while. I'm constantly told about how eerily similar it is to RE4. Not only that, but the cover of the movie has always intrigued me. I always thought this movie was made in the 70s... the art on the front looks old and cheesy. I was shocked to find through netflix this was actually released in 2001. So I got around to watching it. I went in with expectations low, and what can I really say? I don't really love this movie, but I really didn't dislike it. The story is interesting, and there are actually quite a few parts that have some great atmosphere. The acting is mediocre, the effects are ridiculously bad for the most part (particularly the CGI bits), and a lot of the writing is lousy. All this being said it's a lot better than one would think, and if you go in with the right mindset, there might be a few nice things you can take out of this movie. Overall I think this movie is worth watching. I really wouldn't mind a remake of this movie with the same feel and location, only better production values and actors.

5.0/10

Oct.5 - Mimic Director's cut

Thoughts: Haven't seen this one in quite a few years but lots of bits are still fresh in my mind.
That's actually sort of the problem with the film in the end. It's a collection of decent scares/ideas
but is wateredown by pacing issues and supposedly studio interferance. Guierllmo Del Toro's Director's cut
mitagates a little of this with some further character development, but that still doesn't fix the fundemantal issues.
It's just undercooked ultimately and a bit outdated (though the designs/effects hold up well).
Some of the performances as well have sort of aged badly, most notably with Mira Sorvino.
Still, there's a little fun to be had and bugs are still creepy!

6/10

#5 - White Zombie (1932)

Apparently this is considered the first zombie movie which stars Dracula legend, Bela Lugosi. It's weird how zombies have changed since then. It's almost nothing like what we know of zombies today. The audio quality was a bit rough on this one so it was hard to hear some of the dialog, but I'll be honest, it was kind of mediocre. Definitely interesting to see the different take on what zombies used to be and it's a super short movie, so I didn't mind watching it.

Shit I have been busy, only have watch 3 movies... but I will watch 3 movies of horror today, I am still in!

The Culture Vulture said:

#5 - The Stuff - October 5th

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All I know is I saw this when I was four and it scared the shit out of me so bad I couldn't eat cool whip/whipped cream well into my 20s. I refuse to watch again (because it would probably spoil it for me and not be scary at all)

yesterday- a couple more lewton's(going thru the boxset)

#5 Bedlam .. somewhat sinister goings-on at an insane asylum, it was Ok- the female lead was exceptional though.
#6 the Ghost Ship ..no ghosts to be found on this ship, only a mad captain and the crew he knocks off..it was average..

So I've finally been able to digest Brian Yuzna's Society and I'd like to write a bit more about it.

It's unnerving and strange thanks to a focus of horror that's generally not used: the sexual combined with the grotesque. Maybe it's because we're accustomed to so much "body violence" in horror films that a more intimate and markedly disgusting horror stands out. It's like they asked themselves what could make an audience cringe the most, and how to deliver it. Which I think is very different than the suspense/trill aspect many attempt to instill. In this, the audience is asked to bare with a basic plot, but the "bizarre" intrudes enough to make you follow. Sure, it's hammy. Sure, it strings the viewer along. But it works for sure, and there are much worse horror films out there. It's like an ultraviolent/perverse take on the 80's kids-against-parents motif. Still isn't Re-Animator though.

Do you guys consider it just gross-out gore, or an effective movie?

Anyways.

1. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
2. The Thing (1982)
3. Prom Night (1980)
4. Society (1989)

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5. Scream 4 (2011)
Before you get all uppity about how this image is the perfect example of the WB-cast syndrome in horror movies... Watch the movie and hear people make the exact same arguments as dialog. Seems people are pretty divided about how they handled the fourth film. Personally, I agree with others that rank it up there with Scream. It captures much of what makes the first one works (to its credit or detriment) and twists it into something else. Had so much fun!



6. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
I understand why people hate it. I really do. But if they were never allowed to make this mistake, we wouldn't have... Halloween motherfucking 3. I don't want to spoil anything and don't know how I really could, but if you love Michael Myers.... Watch it.

#6 Sleepaway Camp (Oct 6)


I am a lucky guy. I somehow made it all these years without seeing this (to the best of my recollection) and some how managed to not have the twist spoiled for me. I knew there was a twist, but not what it was.
My friends have urged me to see this, and the sequels, for years. I definitely remember seeing the VHS box on the shelf at my rental shop for years and years. And with all the attention this thread has given it, I figured it was finally about time.
Obviously, this is a great movie. It looks and feels so authentic for its time period (probably because well, it is authentic.) But still it's a quality that so many try to recapture today and fall short.
The gore in this is a lot tamer than I expected. Most kills are implied or shown just off screen. But they are effective. I'd recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good 80s slasher. 8/10

5) The Final Terror (1983)



One of the dozens of post-Friday The 13th backwoods slashers, this one sits right in the middle as far as quality. Some good atmosphere and an interesting cast (including a sadly underused and overclothed Rachel Ward), but not a lot of suspense or gore. The acting is actually pretty competent and naturalistic but none of the characters really stands out or has a whole lot to do. Still, not a bad effort and once again, compared to most modern attempts at horror movies it holds up fairly well. 5.8/10

2) Manos: The Hand of Fate. Oct. 5



This fucking film, oh my god, I don't want to talk about this film more than I need to. It was painful.. Like someone punching my face constantly over and over again. I saw the Mystery Science version of it, I don't know if I could handle the original version. Everything about that film was awful, fuck, a police cop was talking to himself (the camera didn't include sound, so they had to dub in the voice after shooting the film).

Oh yeah, someone with down-syndrome was in the film, Torgo. He was the best character in this piece of shit film. I want to call this a "comedy" but it is technically a "horror" film, thus it hits the list.

Score: Get me a screwdriver, so I can stab my eyes out.

#5 An American Werewolf in London (Oct 4)


"Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors."

The quintessential werewolf movie, and one of best horror/comedies I've seen. I'm sure many members are watching this one so I'm probably just echoing what's already been said. Rick Baker's transformation scene has never been topped, even in the days of photo realistic cgi American Werewolf in London's tranformation scene is untouchable. The Film does a good job of making us care about lead and what his fate will be. I also really admire the Jaws approach to the werewolf, whenever we see it, it is shown in either in a very quick cut or in a way where we can't really comprehend what we are dealing with. Sometimes less is more. Fantastic Fantastic movie. 9.5/10

#7 Mad Love (1935) (Oct 5)

Peter Lorre makes his American film debut as a mad doctor obsessed with an actress. When her concert pianist husbands hands are destroyed in a train derailment, Lorre "repairs" his hands by replacing them with those of a expert knife thrower and murderer! I love Lorre and he's excellent in the role of the lovelorn doctor, and Colin Clive, Dr. Frankenstein himself, is also good.

afternoon delight said:

Do you guys consider it just gross-out gore, or an effective

Spoiler

monster

movie?

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I think it embraces both: at once clever enough to deliver on a killer premise ( ) while also just laughing it off as an excuse to go to town on splatter FX. It's like a Grand Guignol side-piece to They Live, though a lot less genuinely caustic in its appraisal. I'm pretty confident that if Yuzna wanted it to convey a lasting message, it's

Jme said:

#6 Sleepaway Camp (Oct 6)
8/10

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I concur. Now make Afternoon Delight change his avatar.

#6 - House of 1000 Corpses (Oct 6)
Two couples are driving across the country looking for your not-so-typical attractions when they end up in the hands of a family of crazed maniacs. My first encounter with Rob Zombie's work, and probably my last, since I wasn't impressed at all. I did like the look of some characters, the gore was pretty good, it had a few great locations/sets and a couple of cool ideas, but the overall execution just lacked quality throughout. I also didn't find it scary at all and was even bored at a couple of points. The general consensus would be: meh. 4/10

edit: Besides having blatantly stolen Jme's picture idea, I'm also keeping track of my progress in this post.

&Divius said:

#6 - House of 1000 Corpses (Oct 6)
The general consensus would be: meh. 4/10

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I wouldn't call the follow up horror, but if you enjoyed Natural Born Killers, I think you'd like The Devil's Rejects. It's a better film, and has a nice gritty feel to it. Very much still just white trash characters written and played as such, which can get old. His Halloween remakes are more of the same (white trash culture = killers in rob's book i guess... or it's all he can write)

# 12. Night of the Eagle (aka Burn, Witch, Burn) (1962) - (Oct. 6)
~ Like Tourneur's Night of the Demon before it, this film follows an educated man's transformation from sceptic to believer and pulls the viewer along for the ride... Tense as all get out and great fun!

# 13. White Zombie (1932) - (Oct. 6)
~ Creaky but creepy! I love Lugosi in this! I know younger audiences are baffled by the "zombies" found in this film, but for me, raised on I Walked With a Zombie, The Zombies of Mora-Tora and Plague of the Zombies - and who never saw a modern zombie before seeing Dawn of the Dead on its release at the theatre (because no one was going to show Night of the Living Dead on TV back then! and there were no VCRs yet...) - to me, these are proper zombies, and the contemporary, self-motivated, flesh-eating variety are a modernist perversion (tho' they are admittedly better than emo vampires that glitter in daylight)... At any rate, White Zombie is a classic horror fairy tale, a pre-code opium dream, haunting and familiar, and I rate it with Whale's The Old Dark House and Marnau's Nosferatu for atmosphere and style... Recommended to anyone with an appreciation of the Finer Things™ in life...

I love Lugosi in this! I know younger audiences are baffled by the "zombies" found in this film, but for me, raised on I Walked With a Zombie, The Zombies of Mora-Tora and Plague of the Zombies - and who never saw a modern zombie before seeing Dawn of the Dead on its release at the theatre (because no one was going to show Night of the Living Dead on TV back then! and there were no VCRs yet...) - to me, these are proper zombies, and the contemporary, self-motivated, flesh-eating variety are a modernist perversion (tho' they are admittedly better than emo vampires that glitter in daylight)

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Agreed on a lot of points, especially the idea that flesh eating zombies are modernist. I too loved Lugosi, Price, Karloff flicks growing up and the black and white versions of the dead are really cool. They're detached and surreal/creepy on their own merit as walking dead, not immediate evisceration. Something that's definitely lost on their cannibalistic cousins.

Lugosi is a god though.

Attackthebase said:

2) Manos: The Hand of Fate. Oct. 5

This fucking film, oh my god, I don't want to talk about this film more than I need to. It was painful.. Like someone punching my face constantly over and over again. I saw the Mystery Science version of it, I don't know if I could handle the original version. Everything about that film was awful, fuck, a police cop was talking to himself (the camera didn't include sound, so they had to dub in the voice after shooting the film).

Oh yeah, someone with down-syndrome was in the film, Torgo. He was the best character in this piece of shit film. I want to call this a "comedy" but it is technically a "horror" film, thus it hits the list.

Score: Get me a screwdriver, so I can stab my eyes out.

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Not downs, actually high as fuck and in pain too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reynolds_(actor)

To portray his character Torgo as a satyr, John Reynolds wore what would best be described as a metallic rigging worn under his trousers, made out of wire coat hangers and foam by costar Tom Neyman.[3][5] Reynolds unintentionally wore them backwards, meaning the effect conveyed by his work was to leave his character with oversized knees and difficulty in walking.[9][10] No one ever corrected Reynolds' mistake on-set, so the device damaged Reynolds' kneecaps, causing him chronic pain in the months before his death; reportedly, Reynolds attempted to overcome the pain by self-medicating with drugs, visibly affecting his performance in the film.[11]
.....
John Reynolds, the actor who played Torgo, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun on October 16, 1966,[14] a month before the film was to premiere

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Also you're not truly strong until you've watched it uncut or listened to the COMPLETE soundtrack a friend of mine mad using the uncut DVD!

afternoon delight said:

5. Scream 4 (2011)
Before you get all uppity about how this image is the perfect example of the WB-cast syndrome in horror movies... Watch the movie and hear people make the exact same arguments as dialog. Seems people are pretty divided about how they handled the fourth film. Personally, I agree with others that rank it up there with Scream. It captures much of what makes the first one works (to its credit or detriment) and twists it into something else. Had so much fun!

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I was beginning to think that I was the only one that "got" this movie.

Jme said:

#6 Sleepaway Camp (Oct 6)

I am a lucky guy. I somehow made it all these years without seeing this (to the best of my recollection) and some how managed to not have the twist spoiled for me. I knew there was a twist, but not what it was.
My friends have urged me to see this, and the sequels, for years. I definitely remember seeing the VHS box on the shelf at my rental shop for years and years. And with all the attention this thread has given it, I figured it was finally about time.
Obviously, this is a great movie. It looks and feels so authentic for its time period (probably because well, it is authentic.) But still it's a quality that so many try to recapture today and fall short.
The gore in this is a lot tamer than I expected. Most kills are implied or shown just off screen. But they are effective. I'd recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good 80s slasher. 8/10

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Seems like this thread has mostly turned into a Sleepaway Camp devirgining! Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. Fantastic gif too.

Manos: The Hans of Fate said:

Not downs, actually high as fuck and in pain too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reynolds_(actor)

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Yeah, I get extremely depressed when I see Reynolds hobbling around in that movie, knowing what the pain and drugs eventually led to.

#4 Sleepaway Camp (Oct 4)

I really did not like this movie. I wanted to turn it off about 40 minutes into the movie, but continued to watch it for the ending...the ending was OK. I don't really see the appeal of it at all.

I really did not like this movie. I wanted to turn it off about 40 minutes into the movie, but continued to watch it for the ending...the ending was OK. I don't really see the appeal of it at all.

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