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31 Days of Horror 2 |OT| The October Movie Marathon

Jroderton said:
Sooooooooo.....

Just finished Lovely Molly. Were we, as viewers, supposed to understand a fucking thing about that movie? Am I missing something? I'm just sitting here confused as fuck, not creeped out, and I want the last hour and 40 minutes back so I could watch a real horror flick.

The hell is up with the horse heads? Was she really seeing shit or was she bat shit insane?

** out of *****
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There are a few possible explanations, but I love how the film gives you enough pieces to form something interesting even while it withholds the rest. I think
the demonic creature is definitely real. There are shots of Molly discovering those weird occult symbols on the property, perhaps along with an alter, and things seem to happen to her around them off camera. As I recall, they looked old, suggesting they were there before Molly and her family; indicating an unknown presence influencing whoever lives in the house. However, they might also be evidence of Molly's father's involvment with the occult. He abused her as a child either under the influence of the demon or just due to his innate evil, and was finally killed by Molly's sister. If the father had dealings with the occult, he may have transitioned into the horse-headed creature with the power to abuse Molly even in death, so Molly recognizes him as who he is despite his new form - hence the photo album. If not, the creature likely controlled him in life, and used Molly's fear of him to torment her and wear her down psychologically - so it made her believe it was her father even though she could see its true form.

Regarding her sanity, she has everything set against her. She's alone in a house full of bad memories for long periods of time, and she learns her husband is cheating on her. She copes by abusing substances as she did in the past, and this weakens her even more. Eventually, the creature has its hooks in deep enough to make Molly violent; though perhaps the violence is merely the result of its prolonged psychological torture. Either way it wins, and claims her at the end.
 
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#10 Demons (October 10)
“She put on that mask and scratched herself, get it? Because of that scratch, she became a demon. An instrument of evil, like they said in the damn movie, you heard it. We got to stop it I tell you, we got to stop the movie!”
Theater-goers attending a screening of a mysterious horror movie get more than they bargained for when the terrors on screen come to life. Written by Dario Argento, and directed by Lamberto Bava, Demons is quintessential 80s Italian splatter. All blood, guts and neon puke, Demons provides a veritable Smörgåsbord of demonic mayhem courtesy effects man Sergio Stivaletti. Eyes clawed out, chunks of flesh torn free, bodies split open, Stivaletti's gooey practical effects are like Spinal Tap—always cranked to eleven. Argento's threadbare plot never gets in the way, even when shit gets weird, and Bava provides tight direction. Bobby Rhodes delivers an endlessly quotable and iconic performance as Tony the Pimp. All backed by a pounding Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin) score and period heavy metal and new wave hits, Demons is hands down Bava's finest film.
 
NekoFever said:
#10 - Night of the Demon

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I've been wanting to see this since it was praised on A History of Horror, and I wasn't disappointed. A few parts have aged somewhat, but the effects stand up remarkably well and it's a highly atmospheric movie. Not much in the way of scares, but a general oppressive feeling as the main character starts to doubt his convictions and believe that he might be a marked man.

4/5
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Night of the Demon is really good, I watched it last October. Niall MacGinnis in particular is fantastic, as is the super-tense climactic back and forth between him and Andrews.

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peach said:
#3
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Just watched this on Netflix instant last night. I am not well-versed when it comes to horror movies as I do not watch them that often (I'm in this thread so I can broaden my horizons)...But I feel like I can say that this was a horror movie done completely right. It's an old-fashioned haunting movie and the acting and design were both great. Thanks for the recommendation, gaf!
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With respect and much kindess, you have a lot to learn. Someday you will look back on Insidious and wonder how you possibly could have liked it.
 
Day 10: Kuroneko/A Tale of Two Sisters (dir. Kaneto Shindo/Kim Ji-woon

Double features tend to leave a stronger impact when you pick two films that while similar as far as their genre is concerned, couldn't be more dissimilar otherwise.

Kuroneko certainly feels like a film from the director of the excellent Onibaba; lighting and certainly the lack thereof play a key role in establishing the mood. After they're raped and murdered by a band of samurai, two women make a pact with the underworld to reincarnate as vicious blood-drinking ghosts, tearing their way through the men responsible for their fate before moving on to all samurai. In the meantime, a young soldier gets incredibly lucky and defeats the fabled leader of a barbarian horde and quickly rises to the rank of samurai himself, and is charged with figuring out just what has been killing his fellow men. At the risk of spoilers, things get considerably complicated once he's involved, and the movie finds its footing in more of a tragic romance than a mere ghost story, but fate is what it is, and no one can escape who they are. While I felt that the film lingered on a touch longer than it probably needed to (just how many samurai did the ghosts really need to kill?), the strong direction and atmospheric visuals (including some crude but surprisingly effective rear projection techniques) make this a worthy follow-up to Shindo's previous masterpiece.

A Tale of Two Sisters plays with this idea of what it means to be haunted by ghosts throughout. Two sisters try to stay together when moving back their old house after some time away, with a father who doesn't know what to do with them and a stepmother who is crueler than she lets on. With the death of their mother hanging over them, the two find themselves being constantly bombarded with all kinds of horrors, both supernatural and literal in equal measures. While I felt that the film often showed its hand too early regarding the many twists and turns that it takes, it's always the execution that matters, and director Kim Ji-woon directs his pants off, with a great sense of visuals and editing that contribute to the beautiful nightmare he's constructing. A slow burn by its very nature, its only real narrative misstep is not really knowing when to call it quits, resulting in about four different endings. Even with that in mind, it's hard not to want to get lost in the film.

Day 11 preview: Ti West impressed the ever-loving shit out of me with his wonderful 80s throwback, The House of the Devil. Will he go for another homerun with The Innkeepers?
 
Plasticine said:
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#10 Demons (October 10)
“She put on that mask and scratched herself, get it? Because of that scratch, she became a demon. An instrument of evil, like they said in the damn movie, you heard it. We got to stop it I tell you, we got to stop the movie!”
Theater-goers attending a screening of a mysterious horror movie get more than they bargained for when the terrors on screen come to life. Written by Dario Argento, and directed by Lamberto Bava, Demons is quintessential 80s Italian splatter. All blood, guts and neon puke, Demons provides a veritable Smörgåsbord of demonic mayhem courtesy effects man Sergio Stivaletti. Eyes clawed out, chunks of flesh torn free, bodies split open, Stivaletti's gooey practical effects are like Spinal Tap—always cranked to eleven. Argento's threadbare plot never gets in the way, even when shit gets weird, and Bava provides tight direction. Bobby Rhodes delivers an endlessly quotable and iconic performance as Tony the Pimp. All backed by a pounding Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin) score and period heavy metal and new wave hits, Demons is hands down Bava's finest film.
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Easily one of the 5 best zombie movies.
 
The Fog (1980)

John Carpenter's followup to Halloween and the last horror he did before The Thing, The Fog features a town that is overtaken by a thick fog containing the vengeful ghosts of people killed in a shipwreck a hundred years ago.

I really liked it. The monsters in the fog seemed kinda funny (seemingly rotting people with hooks killing people) but it worked in context. It never truly gripped me compared to some of his other work, but it was a decent film and fairly forboding. The use of the radio was great (I love that trope in horror, moreso in stuff like AM1200) given the setting. Definitely worth the watch.
 
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#10 Candyman

This film really impressed me. It had a real Clive Barker vibe, but he was only a producer to the flim. Good job to the protagonist she played her role well. Also the soundtrack was amazing, the church organist with a choir type music really brought this film to another level.
 
Main list.

  • Film 05 Day 11
    28 Days Later (Danny Boyle - 2002)
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This is the first film for my 31 days of horror, that I've already seen. In fact, i'd say Danny Boyle is one of my all time favorite directors, if not my number one. It's been a few years since i last visited this one, but I've seen it many times and hadn't forgotten much. Still as much fun as i remember and the two hours just fly in, in my opinion.

I always bite my fingernails, during the scene when they're changing the taxi's wheel underground. It's just such a tense scene.

Despite definitely earning it's 18 certificate and being a brutal and gritty film, there's also a lot of contrast and moments of sweetness to the film. Typical of Boyle. I think there's an added sense of believability to it for me, actually living in the UK myself, that i don't get from a lot of other horror films.

Like Sunshine, I've seen many complain about the third act for this film. While i love all of Sunshine, i can understand where people are coming from. But here, i simply don't agree. I think it's standard for most zombie films to introduce something, that shows that man is the worst monster. But here i think it's clever that the intimidating figure wearing swat gear in the tower block, turns out to be a big softy and the military assumed to be protect us, become the horror. It's also pretty crucial for Jim's story arc, to have him break at the end. As Boyle said it himself, Jim starts off the naive character whereas Selena admits to being ready to kill in a heartbeat, and as the film goes on they begin to meet in the middle.

I got a little gushy there. But yeah, definitely a winner in my books. Planning to mostly watch films i haven't seen before for this and i'll just be watching the odd favorite here and there.
 
BuddyJoeHooker said:
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#10 Candyman

This film really impressed me. It had a real Clive Barker vibe, but he was only a producer to the flim. Good job to the protagonist she played her role well. Also the soundtrack was amazing, the church organist with a choir type music really brought this film to another level.
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Candyman I can't watch because of childhood memories. This and the first Nightmare on Elm St. plagued me and my sister's nightmares for years. I've since "faced" Nightmare on Elm St (marathon'd the whole series years ago) but Candyman is one that I'm just not trying to think about ever.
 
I know I've been slacking off but I AM GETTING THIS DONE. So time to post about what I've seen so far.

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#3. Howling
A movie with the always talented Song Kang-ho, of the Host and The Good The Bad and the Weird. I love him in every role he's in, and can't wait to watch him for the first time in Host. Here he's taking on a murder case involving a killer wolf dog alongside a young detective played by breakout actress Lee Na-young. This is kind of the answer to werewolf movies that The Host is to monster movies. It tackles that sort of story but in the more grounded world of a crime film. The characters are all multi-layered and have complex subplots, and the cinematography is gorgeous. I won't spoil the plot, although at times I did question if I should count this as a horror movie, but it's definitely worth a look.

It's like a cross between The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

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#4. The Monster of Piedras Blancas

James Rolfe mentioned this one in a recent Monster Madness, and I thought from the clip he showed and the title that it sounded a bit Lovecraftian. Well, to a point it is, but it's also not very good. I was definitely surprised to see severed bloody heads and dead dogs in the course of the movie, though. I don't particularly recommend the movie, though, unless you want to watch a cheesy old horror movie for kicks.

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#5. The Screaming Skull

Didn't take any screencaps, but-

I've been wanting to check this one out ever since hearing James Rolfe talk so much about it.
It was pretty silly. I had to go watch the MST of it immediately after I finished with it.

It really feels like a William Castle film. Mickey reminds me a lot of Torgo, but what really surprised me was that he's also the film's director. In that way, the movie is actually pretty funny. Like a college movie in which all the actors ham things up as much as possible.

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#6. KaraK
A movie with great creature effects and a ton of potential in terms of how well it does atmosphere, but that all goes downhill as soon as the main characters talk. Which scares me, because the lead with the orange shirt reminds me of me. Most of the effects are practical, which I appreciated, although there are a couple CGI moments. The movie definitely picks up when Tok Malam shows up, but I can't shake the feeling throughout it that it's exactly the kind of movie The Cabin in the Woods was satirizing. There are parts that are carbon copies of what CitW makes fun of. And the two male leads keep changing personalities. It's kind of fascinating that way. The music sometimes gets too crazy and ruins the mood, but at other times it's extremely effective and has some neat sound design that reminds me of Silent Hill. The last third is where things ramp up, scares get more effective, and the movie takes some twists I didn't expect. The villain in the movie is more of a troll than anything though. The ending goes from absurd to unexpected to hilarious. I really don't know what to say about this one: the last few seconds are completely batshit insane.

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Heh. I never knew Howling with Song Kang-ho, was a horror. I think i watched a non subtitle trailer for it a while ago, and honestly didn't get a hint of it.

Song Kang-ho is one of my all time favorite actors, so may add this to my list for the marathon. Is it on the american Netflix? As i sometimes use a VPN to watch stuff on it.
 
haikira said:
Heh. I never knew Howling with Song Kang-ho, was a horror. I think i watched a non subtitle trailer for it a while ago, and honestly didn't get a hint of it.

Song Kang-ho is one of my all time favorite actors, so may add this to my list for the marathon. Is it on the american Netflix? As i sometimes use a VPN to watch stuff on it.
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It's an alright movie until the second half of the story kicks in and just becomes stupid.
 
Tokubetsu said:
Candyman I can't watch because of childhood memories. This and the first Nightmare on Elm St. plagued me and my sister's nightmares for years. I've since "faced" Nightmare on Elm St (marathon'd the whole series years ago) but Candyman is one that I'm just not trying to think about ever.
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I had the same problem with Child's Play for awhile, but I got over it and actually appreciate that film now. I can understand Candyman though, some scenes were surprisingly gory in a traumatizing way.
 
I'm so sick of the glut of recovered footage movies. I hate it as a genre. And there are 10 of them that pop up on my Netflix horror page on 360.
 
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#12 - YellowBrickRoad

Trailer

This was appalling. A very promising psychological horror devolved into a nonsensical plot with one of the most pointless throwaway endings I've ever seen duct-taped to its final act. I don't usually discuss plot specifics in these write-ups, but to save others from wasting their time (and to share my irritation), here's a short summary:
a husband and wife team lead a group of researchers into the wilderness to solve the mystery of hundreds of local townsfolk who disappeared walking the trail in the 40s. After a couple of days they start hearing weird 40s music with no obvious source, get Bermuda Triangle lost, and slowly go mad. Some kill each other; eventually the survivors separate and try to get home. The husband keeps walking on. The others all kill each other or themselves. The last guy struggles through the wilderness, eventually reaching the end of the trail where he finds a 40s movie theatre. He is greeted by an inscrutable usher, takes a seat, and realizes he's in sort-of-hell, sort-of-purgatory because his wife's dead body is on the screen, and we hear her voice recounting a dream she had earlier in which she and her husband got home, but everything was black and dead; and now this is our home. "Nooooooooo!" The end. I'm not making this up.

So the strange localized phenomena exist purely to punish the curious, have a 40s aesthetic for no reason, and an atmospheric weird tale which could have delivered an incredible ending with just a modicum of creativity devolved into a mess of lazy writing and horrible ideas lacking substance, suspense or artistic value of any kind.

Why do innocent people walking the Yellow Brick Road hear mysterious music that slowly drives them mad, or leads them to a wilderness movie theater? Because hell I guess. Roll credits.
 
October 10 - Movie #10 - The Quatermass Xperiment

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Another Hammer movie. This one was definitely not as successful as some of their later works--it's still a bit rough around the edges. But the black and white photography, coupled with a very deliberate, thoughtful camera, is rather effective. Like Curse of Frankenstein, it's a monster movie where the true monster is man--in this case, Quatermass (pronounced "kwaytermass"), a hard-nosed scientist who stomps around like he belongs in a noir. The movie is one of those rare B-movie sci-fi films of the 50s that attains a higher level of quality by taking its material very seriously, ala The Day the Earth Stood Still, although the result is something more chilling and bloodless than scary. Elevated by its portrait of Quartermass as the soulless embodiment of Science Must Progress And So What If the Little People Are Caught In Its Gears, the very British tone of moral (and physical) disgust, and the absolutely fantastic (and judiciously used) creature effects (which, barely dated at all, elicit true revulsion and look like they were designed by Cronenberg [although, to be fair, David put in several fewer vaginas than usual]), the film is only held back by its unfortunately low body count. The key cost of Quatermass's relentless and reckless space experiments is the effect they have on the astronauts themselves, the poor bastards, and I can't help but feel the ending would have been stronger had a few more innocents been lost along the way. That said, I'm excited to see the sequels.
 
haikira said:
Heh. I never knew Howling with Song Kang-ho, was a horror. I think i watched a non subtitle trailer for it a while ago, and honestly didn't get a hint of it.

Song Kang-ho is one of my all time favorite actors, so may add this to my list for the marathon. Is it on the american Netflix? As i sometimes use a VPN to watch stuff on it.
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It's more of a thriller, but since the horror genre can include stories like The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Hound of the Baskervilles, I'm going to include it as a loose one. I'm not going to lie...I only watched it for Song Kang-ho. I enjoyed a good portion of it, but it does indeed get dumb later. It's still worth a look, though, if you like Song Kang-ho. It's no Memories of Murder.
 
#16 Umbrage

Bad, really bad. For its tiny budget the film is incredibly well shot and directed and I think that's the only point of its existence, to show what they can do. The film itself is awful. full of one note characters pointing into the distance ruminating about unseen "shadows" they dont have the budget to manifest nor the talent to create a compelling fear of the unseen. <y personal favourite scene was where the ancient priceless magical mirror central to the story was delivered by a fedex guy and left in a barn because no-one was around.

* out of *****
 
#10 - Quarantine 2: The Terminal

Didn't know what to expect out of this and was kinda surprised when they didn't do the found footage again. Was also surprised that they actually tied it to the first one. So on both of those points I was pleased. Nothing too special other than you get a bit more of the back story from the first movie. Final scene/scenes of the movie were cringe inducing though. Wish it had a better ending.
 
8) Hellraiser Oct. 9
excellent premise and art design anchored by two wonderfully despicable characters in Frank and Julia. wobbles a bit towards the end.
you know larry is Frank, and the "final fight" seems so random. kirsty like, box-lasering cenobites one after another? was weirdly anticlimactic I thought.
house set is great and the direction is pulled off well within it. liked how it sort of demanded trust, never spelling out the "rules" when you'd think it would.
*** 1/2

9) The Faculty Oct. 10/11
Only got into the Scream movies around the release of pt. 4, and all I've seen thus far are 1 and 2. I really like 1 and appreciate what 2 aims for. their best asset, of course, is that they're strongly scripted and nicely satirical. So, coming into another film with a Williamson script, I was expecting a bit more subversion of high school teen drama tropes. instead Williamson just kinda leans into them. I mean, the message of the film is that you shouldn't put too much stock in the high school social hierarchy, but it does exist and it can be a bitch. people do act according to stereotype, deal with it. therefore it's more straightforward, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. the characters are still developed well, and the amount of intertextuality Rodriguez and Williamson dump in this thing is fun. The Thing, X-Files, Terminator 2. Makes it a bit quicker and wittier. Despite not leaving much of an impact, that level of exhilaration coupled with a damn great cast (Hatosy, Wood, Hartnett, DuVall, Brewster, and Harris are all a brilliant center ensemble; Stewart, Laurie, Janssen, Hayek, and Patrick all make fun and menacing teachers; on top of that Brewster, Harris and Janssen are hot) and cool set pieces make The Faculty a worthy thrill.
*** 1/2

so I'm a movie behind in this, but that's partly because i've watched a few non-horror movies too. if I end up with only 28-30 horror on the month, I won't be angry.
 
#11 - Final Destination 5

I admit, this series is a guilty pleasure of mine. Not so much horror but a fun ride to see how creative they can get with the people dying. I don't think this iteration was as creative on the death front, but it did add a couple new twists that gave the movie a bit of fresh air in relation to the rest of the series. I'm not sure why they went with the ending they did though. I'm not sure what the point of that was. It was certainly interesting to see them tie all that together though.
 
#8 Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

This was the first Halloween movie I saw in theaters. I haven't seen it since. It's kinda bizarre seeing Paul Rudd, or Paul Stephen Rudd as he's credited, in this.

Pros:
- Not much really; I suppose it was nice to see Donald Pleasance one more time.
- Although I disliked the score, the end credits song And Fools Shine On by Brother Cane was a pretty cool mid-90's throwback for me.

Cons:
- Not really a single character that I care about in this movie and the acting is pretty bad, including the drunk, abusive dad and his wife who looks like Mama from Mama's Family. While it's fun every now and again to root for the bad guy, the best horror films seem to have protaganist that you care about AND an interesting killer. This movie has neither.
- The score is pretty terrible. Everytime Michael's in pursuit, they have these ridiculous guitar squeals. Sounds really dated and lame.
- The whole druid/thorn thing is really ridiculous. I miss the psycho-sexual subtext of the original film compared to this nonsense.


Anybody seen the producer's cut? I keep hearing it's better, but have my doubts much could be salvaged with this after revisiting this movie.
 
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10. The Sentinel

The first thing that struck me was that the caliber of the cast: Chris Sarandon, John Carradine, Burgess Meredith, Ava Gardner, Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, Jerry Orbach, Beverly D'Angelo, Jeff Goldblum, and Tom Berenger all had parts in the film, though everyone but Sarandon, Carradine, and Meredith had what could be considered a minor role at best. It's an impressive cast only in hindsight. That said, the talent assembled lends the film a greater sense of gravitas than it probably deserved.

I was shocked to see the protagonist, in a flashback, attempt suicide on screen. The incident that led to her suicide attempt is possibly even more shocking, especially for a film from 1977.

The film is a faint echo of Rosemary's Baby. A young urban woman discovers that her new apartment holds a dark secret, and she must confront her personal history and decide whether to make a certain sacrifice w/r/t the apartment's secret. The last 20 minutes explodes the unsettling atmosphere built in the prior 60 minutes, and it makes the experience worthwhile. Of course, any excitement derived from those last 20 minutes should be tempered with the knowledge that the director, Michael Winner, used people with actual deformities to portray demons who have come to force the protagonist to open the gates of hell through a mortal sin.
 
Aske said:
I'm with your friend. Sure, you can spill a mug of logic all over the shop and turn the premise into a soggy mess, but if you suspend your disbelief a bit you'll find the creep-factor is well over 9000.
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It's weird because I can do it for something like Marble Hornets, and I don't usually sit down and pick a movie apart like that. But something about this one just didn't click with me at all.

Right now I'm watching The Mummy with Boris Karloff, and it seems pretty good. I can totally see the mummy making people scream in the theater back then.
 
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#08 | Oct. 10th | Candyman | 1992

I'll keep this one quick, as others have covered it as well. Pretty good. A nice foreboding tone to the film throughout, and some interesting ideas mixed with strong performances.

Some plot details were either strange or contrived
yes, by all means pick up that meat cleaver. Very convenient. Also, stupid. And the nature of Candyman's reality - invisible to others sometimes, sometimes able to kill, and then able to kill someone (the doctor) and then fly away - yet he was trapped in the fire at the end. Again, felt contrived.

Otherwise, one of the better movies I've seen this month.
 
bjork said:
Dream Home. That was pretty messed up stuff, but if I ever need to randomly kill a bunch of people with household objects, this movie was instructions on how to do so.
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So, I decided to watch this movie based on this post. I sit down, start eating my dinner and holy shit, I can't finish eating my dinner. That boxcutter... :|
 
Movie #25 - Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, dir. Ernest R. Dickerson (1995)
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While I'm certainly aware of the show, I personally have absolutely no emotional attachment to it, with this movie being my first exposure to the franchise as a whole. This is probably why I found the initial and concluding skits with the Crypt Keeper to be so off-putting, they simply came off as stylistically obstructionist, and ruined what was otherwise a solid horror film with comedic elements. The film is all business after the first 15 minutes, kicking into gear when Zane punches a hole through someone's head and maintaining a consistent entertaining burn for the duration of the film.

I'm always a fan of restrictive settings within my horror films, and the Night of the Living Dead-esque quality to this film works perfectly. Christ's blood acting as an impenetrable barrier added a nice spin to the premise, allowing for the element of temptation and moral corruption to be added to the fold, which resulted in some damn interesting scenes spear headed by Billy Zane.

I'm pretty sure everyone who has seen the film are in agreement that Billy Zane absolutely stole the show, which was surprising to me since I've always considered him to be a mediocre B-list actor, but I suppose every dog has his day. I absolutely loved a demon that is supposed to quintessentially be inherently evil, having such an interesting personality, and while his character definitely has moments representative of the prototypical demon, for most of the film he's deadpan, sharp-tongued and encompassing of an overall sense of humor that is incredibly relatable to that of Freddy Kreuger. I love the fact that they took something as tired and cliche as selling your soul, and injected a fair bit of life and humor into it, channeling some of the more surreal moments of The Shining, but taking it in a much more exaggerated and entertaining direction.

Demon Knight has actually aged pretty well, and that's due to the fact that the film contains some fairly competent practical effects (although the digital effects are obviously hindered by the constraints of the films release, but even they aren't aged to the point of detracting enjoyment). The demon costume designs, corrupted human designs, splatter effects, etc. were all top notch and very 80s in their sensibilities and execution, and I absolutely loved every minute of it. Although it's a bit surprising to see that the film cost $12 million. Without any marquee actors (at the time), or effects that would seemingly demand that type of dough, I'm kind of at a lost as to where the money went because Demon Knight certainly doesn't look like a moderately budgeted film (although I suppose they could have been going for the lesser, campy look).

The script is by no means brilliant, but it doesn't take itself seriously and has an element of fun that is missing from most movies these days. With the exception of Zane, the characters are ridiculously cliche and their actors merely servicable in the roles, but they're likable enough to get through the narrative without much negative distraction. The film is basically a jack of all trades, but master of none, which certainly isn't the worst thing in the world.

Rating: *** out of ****
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Here's the write up for what I watched last night.
 
Day 11: The Innkeepers (dir. Ti West)

Slightly more conventional than his previous film, The House of the Devil, but no less gripping, Ti West once again proves why he's one of the best modern directors of the genre with this film. Opting to have the film ramp up in a more gradual manner than the sudden shocks that served his previous film so well, The Innkeepers keeps to West's "less is more" approach with an almost cutthroat efficiency. Although it does slightly stumble with its more overt evocations of the era it's depicting, no scene feels wasted. Add in some genuinely likable leads, and you've got yourself a hell of a film. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I'm buying whatever this man is selling next.

Day 12 preview: I can think of no new and noteworthy things to say to describe it, so without further delay, we conclude our week of ghosts with a rewatch of Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining.
 
ThirstyFly said:
I haven't seen that since it came out and I don't know how far I got in the sequels, but it's one I always wanted to revisit. One thing I do remember about it, is I thought it was one of the most bloody movies I had ever seen. Just red fluid everywhere! The scene where
Candyman comes up behind the doctor or whatever he was at his desk and hooks him though the back with blood spraying everywhere was crazy.
Is it still as over-the-top bloody today as I remember it being then?
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Ehh the thing is I'm so desensitized to violence and blood, so while I noticed it, I didn't think it was THAT bad. Still a lot of it. I just really loved the story, atmosphere, performances, etc.

Spiffy_1st said:
Wow, Trick ’r Treat was a let down. Nothing interesting happened in it at all.
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Whattttt, one of my favorite movies to watch on Halloween. It captures that feel of halloween so great. One of the better anthologies in a while.

Speaking of anthologies..

#10 V/H/S- will review later

also watched #11 Snowtown.
 
MV5BMTc5NTAwOTE4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzMyMjIyMQ@@._V1._SY317_CR1,0,214,317_.jpg


11. "Session 9" - I guess this movie was too slow for me, didn't really get into it and found myself doing other things while watching. The ending was interesting but just didn't like it as a whole.
 
miller_time22 said:
#8 Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

This was the first Halloween movie I saw in theaters. I haven't seen it since. It's kinda bizarre seeing Paul Rudd, or Paul Stephen Rudd as he's credited, in this.

Pros:
- Not much really; I suppose it was nice to see Donald Pleasance one more time.
- Although I disliked the score, the end credits song And Fools Shine On by Brother Cane was a pretty cool mid-90's throwback for me.

Cons:
- Not really a single character that I care about in this movie and the acting is pretty bad, including the drunk, abusive dad and his wife who looks like Mama from Mama's Family. While it's fun every now and again to root for the bad guy, the best horror films seem to have protaganist that you care about AND an interesting killer. This movie has neither.
- The score is pretty terrible. Everytime Michael's in pursuit, they have these ridiculous guitar squeals. Sounds really dated and lame.
- The whole druid/thorn thing is really ridiculous. I miss the psycho-sexual subtext of the original film compared to this nonsense.


Anybody seen the producer's cut? I keep hearing it's better, but have my doubts much could be salvaged with this after revisiting this movie.
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If you don't like the theatrical version at all, the Producer's Cut won't do much for you. It makes marginally more sense and the ending is completely different, but it is basically the same movie. The biggest difference is that all the stupid 90s guitar squeals were taken out and the traditional Halloween score was added in (although there is for sure a guitar version of it a few times, but other times it sounds like it was straight from Halloween 1/2). If you're really down on it already, the P-Cut won't help. And jumping in and out from DVD quality scenes to 3rd gen VHS scenes is pretty jarring. It was interesting to see as a fan of the series, but if you already hate 6, the P-Cut can't fix that.

I enjoy both versions. I've always felt that it was much better than what people give it credit for. If you watch 5 and 6 back to back and don't think 6 is much better, then I don't know what to tell you.
 
#5 Trick 'r Treat (Oct. 6)



"But don't forget to help me with the eyes."

A little behind on my write-ups but this is my first rewatch of the year. I included this movie in last years horrorthon and will probably include it in next years as well. I really don't believe there is another movie that perfectly embodies the feeling of halloween more than this one. Sure the film isn't very scary but that is beside the point, this movie is about having fun watching it and celebrating the greatest holiday we have.

9/10
 
strobogo said:
If you don't like the theatrical version at all, the Producer's Cut won't do much for you. It makes marginally more sense and the ending is completely different, but it is basically the same movie. The biggest difference is that all the stupid 90s guitar squeals were taken out and the traditional Halloween score was added in (although there is for sure a guitar version of it a few times, but other times it sounds like it was straight from Halloween 1/2). If you're really down on it already, the P-Cut won't help. And jumping in and out from DVD quality scenes to 3rd gen VHS scenes is pretty jarring. It was interesting to see as a fan of the series, but if you already hate 6, the P-Cut can't fix that.

I enjoy both versions. I've always felt that it was much better than what people give it credit for. If you watch 5 and 6 back to back and don't think 6 is much better, then I don't know what to tell you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight. I actually remember enjoying it quite a bit when I first saw it, but it kinda put me off this time. I actually didn't watch 4/5 (waiting to find them cheap on BD), so I'm probably missing some of the build-up. I may still give the producer's cut a chance the next time I do a rewatch of the series, as the different ending sounds interesting to me (at least on paper).

My Resurrection rewatch (first time since a stoned theatrical viewing), should be interesting since I didn't even like it to being with, lol.
 
Aske said:
There are a few possible explanations, but I love how the film gives you enough pieces to form something interesting even while it withholds the rest. I think
the demonic creature is definitely real. There are shots of Molly discovering those weird occult symbols on the property, perhaps along with an alter, and things seem to happen to her around them off camera. As I recall, they looked old, suggesting they were there before Molly and her family; indicating an unknown presence influencing whoever lives in the house. However, they might also be evidence of Molly's father's involvment with the occult. He abused her as a child either under the influence of the demon or just due to his innate evil, and was finally killed by Molly's sister. If the father had dealings with the occult, he may have transitioned into the horse-headed creature with the power to abuse Molly even in death, so Molly recognizes him as who he is despite his new form - hence the photo album. If not, the creature likely controlled him in life, and used Molly's fear of him to torment her and wear her down psychologically - so it made her believe it was her father even though she could see its true form.

Regarding her sanity, she has everything set against her. She's alone in a house full of bad memories for long periods of time, and she learns her husband is cheating on her. She copes by abusing substances as she did in the past, and this weakens her even more. Eventually, the creature has its hooks in deep enough to make Molly violent; though perhaps the violence is merely the result of its prolonged psychological torture. Either way it wins, and claims her at the end.
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Thanks for that. Makes a lot more sense now.
 
#5 The Blair Witch Project

This move scares the piss out of me. When they are in their tent and you can hear children talking outside..oh man. Great movie.

#6 Fright Night- 2011 Release

I really enjoyed this. I don't think it gets enough credit. Very good movie.
 
My marathon is going to lag a bit now because I have a new house to get ready but that doesn't stop me from watching as many as I can.

7. House of 1000 Corpses

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa98CctMb38

Rob Zombie's first movie and it is a creepy and disturbing affair, though it has a very basic and generic horror plot.. a bunch of kids, they get lost, they meet up with demented family. The direction, the erratic camera work, the soundtrack all makes this a disturbing film.. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone outside of pure horror fans. Gory, dark and just a depressing film, enough stuff here to keep horror fans happy. Overall: 5/10

8. Videodrome

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cLj6L6zvo

A weird and mysterious film, more of a sci-fi mystery thriller than horror in my opinion but contains enough creepy moments and atmosphere to make it scary. Though slow and very story-driven, it keeps your suspense about what the 'Videodrome' is and it is interesting to see the main character's visions and motivations. This is not your typical horror film, but worth a watch if you are looking for something different. Overall: 7/10
 
20121011-839pbqxnct847nb6wtnbe1gpc2.jpg


#13 - Apartment 143 [Emergo]
Trailer

I really liked this one! Very surprised, considering the thoughts of others in the thread. It wasn't especially original, but I thought it did its thing extremely well: found footage haunting story with a good mystery, a solid cast, moderately oppressive atmosphere, and some decent jump scares. Imagine one of the Paranormal Activity films, but painted with much broader brush-strokes. I'm hoping some of the posters who expressed a dislike for the film will elaborate a bit, because if it didn't get so much hate I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre. As far as found footage movies go, I'd have figured this was a very safe bet.
 
Callo Merlose said:
So, I decided to watch this movie based on this post. I sit down, start eating my dinner and holy shit, I can't finish eating my dinner. That boxcutter... :|
Click to expand...

Seriously. I was actually kind of shocked by how brutal it was.

As for The Mummy: I had no idea that
he's only shown in bandages for like 1 minute.
That was completely different from what I'd expected.
 
#11 - Jennifer's Body

i9grtFuzjc5Kl.jpg


Far scarier than any of the horror in this was another smug Diablo Cody script. I couldn't stand Juno and I could smell the same shit within a few minutes of this starting. While I didn't dislike it quite as much as that film, there's not really any reason to see this beyond the eye candy.

2/5
 
jlv1r2AhrSCou.jpg

#14 - Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
It's Scream meets Man Bites Dog in this meta mockumentary which starts out fun but was partly ruined for me by a twist you see coming from miles away. And if you spent an hour talking about kids making dumb decisions STOP MAKING THEM YOURSELF. 6/10
 
miller_time22 said:
Thanks for the insight. I actually remember enjoying it quite a bit when I first saw it, but it kinda put me off this time. I actually didn't watch 4/5 (waiting to find them cheap on BD), so I'm probably missing some of the build-up. I may still give the producer's cut a chance the next time I do a rewatch of the series, as the different ending sounds interesting to me (at least on paper).

My Resurrection rewatch (first time since a stoned theatrical viewing), should be interesting since I didn't even like it to being with, lol.
Click to expand...

4 is really good, outside of the terrible mask. I guess it kind of made sense since in story it was just a mask he grabbed at a store at random, but it looks so bad. 5 is the worst of the series to me. Even worse than Resurrection. There is just nothing redeemable about it. It took all the good things about 4 and stripped them away, added in terrible comedy, and somehow an even worse mask.
 
I watched V/H/S tonight. The trailer looks amazing, but the movie itself is just alright. Lots of really great ideas and concepts here, but piss poor writing and really annoying characters turn it half to shit. I love the "anthology" concept where its basically 5 short stories, and a few of them are really memorable and kind of disturbing if you really dig supernatural horror. Oh, and there's one story that's not supernatural at all, but the death is ultra-disturbing. I actually said "aw fuck" outloud. Not that that's any reason to rush out and see it, I'm just saying its in there.

I'll remember the "I Like You." line for a long time, I think. That was my favorite story hands down even though it had the most obnoxious characters in it. That face....sheesh. I'll remember that face. I like you. *shudders*

Oh, and there's a good amount of tits. :)
 
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