I was really enjoying this movie until the end. Some bizarre device or whatever to fix the story-telling.
Other than that, a pretty tense and kind of scary look at killers.
Guess will explain
One of the killers is laying out the rules, the mother grabs the shotgun and kills one of the killers
The other one.. finds the remote... somehow rewinds time... and prevents it from happening.
This made me laugh out loud several times, I couldn't help it. It's been said before, this is sort of a black comedy and I have to agree. It has a really great twist on a character that is refreshing to horror films.
I can only say nice things about it, maybe it drags in a few scenes but otherwise it is a solid film.
This made me laugh out loud several times, I couldn't help it. It's been said before, this is sort of a black comedy and I have to agree. It has a really great twist on a character that is refreshing to horror films.
I can only say nice things about it, maybe it drags in a few scenes but otherwise it is a solid film.
I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It turned out to be different than what I expected from the type of film it was. Definitely one of my favorites from last year.
I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It turned out to be different than what I expected from the type of film it was. Definitely one of my favorites from last year.
3. Grabbers (Netflix) - I've been looking forward to this since the first trailer but haven't gotten to catch it until now. Fun premise, dragged a little, but worth a watch.
1. The House on Sorority Row (Hulu) -Skip it
2. Tales from the Crypt Demon Knight (blu-ray). One of my favorites. It's a (Crypt) Keeper.
This made me laugh out loud several times, I couldn't help it. It's been said before, this is sort of a black comedy and I have to agree. It has a really great twist on a character that is refreshing to horror films.
I can only say nice things about it, maybe it drags in a few scenes but otherwise it is a solid film.
This made me laugh out loud several times, I couldn't help it. It's been said before, this is sort of a black comedy and I have to agree. It has a really great twist on a character that is refreshing to horror films.
I can only say nice things about it, maybe it drags in a few scenes but otherwise it is a solid film.
I was really enjoying this movie until the end. Some bizarre device or whatever to fix the story-telling.
Other than that, a pretty tense and kind of scary look at killers.
Guess will explain
One of the killers is laying out the rules, the mother grabs the shotgun and kills one of the killers
The other one.. finds the remote... somehow rewinds time... and prevents it from happening.
It's kinda a trip, when I first saw the original I treated it as a straight film at the beginning but I slowly realized it's black comedy, well maybe it's some social commentary in vain of home invasion film.
The main killer breaks the 4th wall early on if I remember correctly by winking to the audience.
Benny's Video is another uneasy film from the same director.
It's kinda a trip, when I first saw the original I treated it as a straight film at the beginning but I slowly realized it's black comedy, well maybe it's some social commentary in vain of home invasion film.
The main killer breaks the 4th wall early on if I remember correctly by winking to the audience.
3) Creep (Netflix): Jesus, what a piece of shit film. Anyone that likes this movie should feel bad. The whole movie is horrible, but the stupid jump scares, the ones that 10 year old kids would find funny, are easily the worst thing about it.
So I watched this one because Jay Bauman of Red Letter Media recommended it on one of their reviews (I believe of It Follows) once. And boy, this one is interesting. The story follows a young aspiring actress in Hollywood, who along with some of her aspiring actor friends has a hard time getting their break. She works as a waitress (because of course she does) in a dingy restaurant as she tries to audition for a role in a movie by a semi-renowned production studio. The audition process, for a Horror flick, is weird to say the least.
The movie has a very slow build and focusses almost completely on the lead actress, there are no scenes without her, it’s all about her and what she experiences. It takes about an hour to set up the film and the remaining 30 minutes are complete madness. It’s a tremendous pay-off and very satisfying… With a whole shitton of gore... I will never look at a
dumbell
the same again, let me tell you.
With the focus on the main character, much is left to the imagination of what exactly is happening and why it does, but not so much that you can’t make any sense of what it is. The look and feel the movie gets by focussing on the lead alone, who does a great job in her role, is what sets this movie apart. Well made movie, enjoyed it quite a bit.
3) Creep (Netflix): Jesus, what a piece of shit film. Anyone that likes this movie should feel bad. The whole movie is horrible, but the stupid jump scares, the ones that 10 year old kids would find funny, are easily the worst thing about it.
I had some spare time this evening so I thought having just watched and enjoyed the original, Id give the remake of The Last House on the Left a go.
The story is pretty faithful to the original, at least up to a point. There are a few minor changes allowing the film to play out in a slightly more realistic fashion, and there is one huge change: (massive spoilers coming up)
Mari survives in this version.
Havent worked out if I approve of that particular change.
As fas as remakes go, this one is pretty good. Not quite up to the standard set in The Hills Have Eyes reboot, but leagues better than the mess that was made of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The film benefits greatly from not having any comedy cops, and its finale is longer, tenser and more satisfying than the original, and foregoes the booby trap silliness.
Verdict: The sleazy grit of the original wins the day, but this is still definitely worth a watch.
Ever since hearing about indie director Dustin Mills on a horror podcast I listen to I have been meaning to check out all his work. He has all kinds of weird/different style horror films. Even one done completely with puppets. The first film of his I watched was called 'Applecart'. It was a silent arthouse film that was quite a mindfuck to watch but I enjoyed it. Having heard Applecart was one of his less well received films I was excited to see what else he had to offer..
'Her Name Is Torment' is his take on the torture porn genre. Everything is so low budget I didn't really get into it or feel grossed out. I feel the 2nd half of the film is much better than the first. Maybe I'm just worn out on the torture porn stuff or maybe the film was just bad. I'm not sure. I still want to watch a few more of his films before deciding if I like the guys work or not. I can definitely appreciate him taking on multiple sub genres in horror. Can't say I'd really recommend this to anyone aside from close friends who I would think might get some enjoyment out of a scene or two.
I honestly don't remember the score, but I just remember movie's overall tone feeling very 80s inspired. I kinda figured it must have been the score that gave me that feeling. I'll definitely rewatch it next year.
With Child's Play 2 being the film that scarred my childhood and gave me nightmares for years, it played a large part of my mild aversion to creepy dolls. I saw Child's Play 1 a few years ago and enjoyed it and now watching Curse of Chucky, it's probably my favorite of the 3 that I've seen.
The film's greatest strength is in its setting, which is a very gothic and gorgeous home that's eerie and just oozes atmosphere. It's the kind of place where I'd expect a ghost to pop out out of any room and kind of a home where I'd absolutely love to live in. It's dark and it's creepy and every scene involving its elevator was a sight to behold.
I also adore Curse of Chucky's approach to sequel making, being my favorite kind of sequel: the whole "this is unrelated to everything we did before oh wait no it's secretly tied into EVERYTHING" (Dead Rising 3, Evil Dead (2013), etc). I LOVE this approach and while Curse of Chucky doesn't really do it well, it tries enough for me to dig it. Wish it had more foreshadowing and ties to the original films and less time creating bickering cannon fodder that had no chance of surviving.
The characters aren't the big problem though, I especially found myself attached to the plot armored protagonist. The big problem of Curse of Chucky is an unusual one, and not one that I see all of the time. It tries to make every scene as tense as humanely possible. The film is just bursting at the seams with tension, and while some of it is effective, a lot is lost by not having moments of rest and saving the tension for when it really deserves it. For example, there's an extended dinner scene that was so goofy because the film tried so hard to build it up with no payoff that it took me out of the movie.
It's a stressful watch at first, but then it becomes numbing. Not to mention the second that Chucky walks and talks (the film also fires this off a scene or two early), a LOT is lost in the tension. He's just not as scary when swearing or stabbing. The scenes where you think he's standing still are by far the tensest, and an extended sequence with a character cleaning his face
and revealing his scars that he gained in Bride of Chucky (which I wasn't expecting they were going to address)
. The scene was great and was evident of the power that the film had of building its tension. I just wish it wasn't every scene.
Besides an eagerness that causes unfortunate but understandable pacing problems, there are a few other things that stand out to me that bother me. Characters seem instantly petrified when they see Chucky, leading him to get kills that he didn't deserve. Nobody but the protagonist put up a fight. Just screaming and standing still and dead. Also I didn't dislike the ending, but I wasn't a giant fan of it and I would have done something similar to what would have happened if Slappy the Dummy would have enslaved the kids he was fighting against/Texas Chainsaw 3D (except less stupid). I thought that would have been incredibly eerie and unsettling, and the ending we got was kind of unsatisfying. The
post credit
scene was AMAZING, though.
Overall, Curse of Chucky is a surprisingly really good film for a franchise that desperately needs a surprisingly good film under its belt. It tries very hard to be likable and the sheer effort is admirable to me and I'm more willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I look forward to the sequel and I should probably get around to the other Chucky movies I've missed.
So I finally bit the bullet and watched it. It was about what I expected. It was actually somewhat promising for a while - I'm not against the idea of an examination of the porn industry from a horror perspective - but it quickly descends into downright cartoony shock violence that makes it impossible to take seriously, but also impossible to find amusing or entertaining, so ultimately it's just kind of there. It's gross, to be sure, but it left me shrugging at its best and rolling my eyes at its worst.
#06 - The Avenging Conscience
D.W. Griffith's 1914 homage to Poe. It has some nice innovative effects work near the end, but about half of the film is taken up by boring, clumsy drama, and when interesting things do start happening the context is painfully preachy. Then the climax has a shootout for no particular reason, and the ending is a copout. Interesting from a historical standpoint in terms of American cinema, but France and Germany were doing more interesting things at the time.
Certainly not a masterpiece, but Conrad Veidt is a joy to watch as always, as each actor plays multiple roles in the different shorts. I think this might be the first horror anthology, but I'm not sure.
Ha, it's more of an comedy, but even regarding those it's absolutely bad. During the entire movie I'm asking myself "man why is everyone yelling, screaming and cursing like a bunch of idiots?" Well the answer is pretty obvious, still, I needed to ask that question. It's your run of the mill creepy little monster movie and the characters aren't even characters. Saving grace of this movie? The scene where the piranha's eat everything, including panicking people ripping each others faces of and seeing that douchey guy whining about his bitten of penis.
The film's horror and power lie in the terror of human relationships, not its monster. A gorgeous film anchored around Nadia Hilker's great performance. Recommended.
#2 Night of the Creeps (1986)
Director: Fred Dekker
Pretty good classic 80's horror
This is your classic tale of alien slug parasites turning a small college community into zombies. Tom Atkins was a total badass in this film, walking around throwing one liners to everyone he meets. There's a lot of good comedy in this film too but when it gets to more dramatic scenes the whole tone of the film can change. EX:
when the detective is admitting to killing the escaped mental patient that killed his ex girlfriend, or Chris listening to the tape JC left his dying message on.
The films pacing is pretty good, it never lingers on one scene for too long.
This is the second Takashi Miike horror film I’ve watched for this edition, but this one is much different from One Missed Call… Because holy fuck, this Japanese psychological horror film is one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. Yep, that’s what I’m starting with, because I need to process, man. Okay, so this movie is about a man (Shigeharu) whose wife died seven years ago. His teenage son notices his father has become lonely and advises him to find a new wife. Not sure how to go about it, he confides in a friend who works for a TV production company. They set up a fake audition for movie aiming to find a suitable woman for him. The guy is instantly anamored by a 24-year-old woman, but there is something fishy about her. All the references on her resume are dead ends, she tells him she worked at a bar, but the bar has been closed for a while after the owner was found dismembered. Needless to say, not everything about this woman is what it seems.
Spoilers about the entire plot follow:
So it turns out the woman, named Asami, is a sadist and has some serious issues with men, she demands Shigeharu only love her and he claims he does. Problem is, he also loves his son, which is unacceptable to her. So she drugs him, and proceeds to torture and dismember him. There aren’t that many graphic scenes in this movie, but the sadism Asami displays are what make this movie extra disturbing. It’s truely horrific and I’m glad I don’t have to go to bed for another few hours, because wow. I mean, she has a man she keeps in a sack at home, who is missing his feet, several fingers and that she feeds her own vomit in a bowl (which, according to him, is “yummy”.
I can’t. I just can’t.
This movie is the very definition of horrific. There are some great scenes throughout the film and several times the line between reality and fiction is blurred. Flashbacks flesh out the story. Tons of good stuff in this film, but boy… So disturbing.
4 HOLY FUCKS I JUST CAN’T EVEN DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW out of 5.
Definitely my favorite film in Fulci's unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy. The spooky atmosphere worked for me and the gore/insects didn't disappoint (loved one particular scene in a car). The only thing that bugged me was that there wasn't enough of Fabio Frizzi in the movie.
I need to re-watch rest of the trilogy. 8/10
A computer controlled spa is killing people via a supernatural element, wut? My main gripe about the last film i watched (The Final Terror) was the lack of gore, this has it by the bucketload. But all the cheesy 80s gore was the best part of a slightly odd Italian feeling (the director is Austrian) movie that was probably technically better than the other health club movie 'Killer Workout' but i found that one more enjoyable mainly due to the soundtrack and ridiculous off the wall fight scene in the middle.
Definitely my favorite film in Fulci's unofficial Gates of Hell trilogy. The spooky atmosphere worked for me and the gore/insects didn't disappoint (loved one particular scene in a car). The only thing that bugged me was that there wasn't enough of Fabio Frizzi in the movie.
I need to re-watch rest of the trilogy. 8/10
Week #1 Round-up.
All scores are out of a possible 5 stars (*****).
1. Late Phases ( Adrián García Bogliano, 2014) (**)
Truly atrocious creature fx really hurt this otherwise creditable werewolf in a retirement community flick. Still worth a look for the performances and a memorable score by ex- demo-scene composer Wojciech Golczewski, but it really ought to be a lot better.
2. WyrmWood (Kiah Roache-Turner, 2014) (****)
This micro-budgeted wonder from down-under arrived with a ton of mostly deserved hype. Its no classic, but is tons of gory fun, and exhibits a lot more imagination than most recent zombie pix. Recommended.
3. The Editor ( Adam Brooks/Matthew Kennedy, 2014) (****)
If you're not a fan of 70's/80's Italian exploitation feel free to cut a star or three from my rating, as this is a movie where 90% of the joy comes from recognizing the inspirations behind Astron-6's inspired pastiche/parody. Its not as laugh out loud funny as Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, but it shares a similar surgical accuracy in its intentional badness - and that is something that takes remarkable skill.
For connoisseur's of spaghetti sleaze, this is a bona-fide must see.
I'm possibly being a bit harsh, as Cooties is actually an entertaining enough watch, but the truth of the matter is that it falls way short of its potential. Great cast, solid technical credits but it only works in fits and starts as either a comedy or a horror movie. Worth a look, but lower your expectations as most of its best bits are all in the trailer.
So continuing with Wes Craven's Scream series we land on the first sequel. I felt it was a step down from the first Scream and at times it felt a bit supernatural in certain aspects. Opening scene was great and reminds me of how quickly people move on from terrible events especially in this day and age. As always the endings in these movies are great.8/10
I won't lie, I've seen this movie far too many times. The powerfull first scenes with Jim (Cillian Murphy) are fantastic. He finds himself in a abandoned London and those particular shots of Picadilly Circus being empty and the wall with all of those notes of people trying to find their loved ones... chilling. His first encounter with the infected never gets old. I really like the movements and the sheer crazyness of it all. They've really got murder in their eyes. Good performances all around from the cast btw. Even the more lighthearted scenes
Like them shopping in the market
work well. Only thing bugging me is the scene where they change the tire on the cab; when they leave the infected just stop chasing them. I always thought (as they are depicted in the movie) the infected keeps on chasing their targets no matter the obstable in the way. Oh well. It's still a fantastic movie to watch. It's a shame though they made a comic sequel to this. Kinda ruins the ending in retrospect.
Apparantly Jim is excecuted because of killing active soldiers/Major West, Hanna gets shipped of to a foster family and Selena is some refugee camp in Norway. She gets inlisted to visit infected territory with a team of American journalists... well thats a great idea!
I've been working my way though the Universal Classic Monsters box set over the years and haven't really been thrilled with the few I've watched so far. Dracula and the Mummy were decent but didn't really set my world on fire. Frankenstein was the only one that I've really enjoyed so far.
I figured for the marathon I'd jump ahead, skipping the Invisible Man (though I am looking forward to going back and watching it) to get to Bride of Frankenstein. I was not disappointed with my choice.
I don't know what I can say about Bride that hasn't already been said. It's a fantastic sequel that easily surpasses the already good original. Everyone seemed to be in top form for this one, even Colin Clive who I understand was at a difficult point in his life and unfortunately passed away 2 years later. The real high point of the film for me was the addition of Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius. If there ever was a face born to play a mad scientist, it was Thesier's.
The only flaws I can find were I didn't find Karloff's makeup as good in this one. His face was more filled out losing that fantastic sunken look and the burn effects added to it just looked odd in my opinion. I also feel the opening prologue with Mary Shelley was unnecessary. Apparently there was also an epilogue filmed, but cut during production. That's unfortunate because book-ending the movie with the Shelley scenes probably would have helped tie it all together.
Rating:
out of 5 Michaels from Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror.
When Skeet Ulrich showed up I hoped for a good Scream prequel. Alas, 'twas not to be. The Craft starts fine and has some darkly humorous moments along the way, but the ending is way too generic. I agree with some comments I saw at RT that the movie would have worked better as a dark satire than going for the special effects showdown. Also didn't care for the teenage drama stuff - the older I get the more I loathe teenage characters in movies, especially horror movies.
Scary, it most certainly is not, but if The Abominable Dr. Phibes excels at anything, it's that it's uproariously entertaining. Playing out like a demented musical (even going as far as opening with a wordless overture!), the film weaves and bobs with the maniacal grace of a maestro in the throes of his performance. It's a rather simple format the film follows: Phibes kills in increasingly awe-inspiring ways (a late death in the film had me laughing for a solid 5 minutes), the police inch further to understanding the scope of their investigation into the bizarre murders, and then there's usually a dance scene of some kind between Phibes and his lovely assistant until it starts all over again. It doesn't make for a lot of sense, but it moves so breathlessly and effortlessly from each scene to the next with a powerful momentum that almost never lets up, and finds a great balance of macabre humor, both in terms of how the deaths are carried out, as well as the very lively chatter between the policemen on the case. Director Robert Fuest has a terrific knack for the absurdity of the hilarious screenplay, with wonderful sets and costuming being highlighted by sharp photography and framing. In a welcome twist, Phibes himself is hardly the talkative type, which makes it all the more important for Vincent Price to put a lot of emphasis on the physicality of his performance, particularly as his face needing to remain relatively still for most of the film, and he simply nails it, in addition to the tricky voice-over where he's purposefully not quite as eloquent as you tend to associate with the man. It's a deeply memorable performance, but the supporting players aren't slacking either, as they all have a lot of fun with the snappy and witty dialogue that's firmly tongue-in-cheek without calling too much attention to that fact. The bonkers reworkings of many classic songs from the 20s (and one particularly anachronistic song that plays over the credits) complete this delicious broth of ham and mirth. It is flawlessly entertaining, and while that's not the sort of thing you expect from a horror film, it's hard not to make an exception when you get a film this delightful as the result.
Hot off the heels of its predecessor, it is perhaps inevitable that it would suffer in comparison; it was never going to have the same amount of time in the oven, but the final product definitely shows signs of straining itself to meet a quick release date, with major plot elements being strangely glossed over by the time the film ends, as well as the supporting cast given little to do than wait until Phibes thinks of a particularly amusing way to dispatch of them; even Phibes himself has seemingly gone through some disappointing changes, as his speech patterns have improved enough to have significantly more dialogue, with Price seemingly instructed to ignore the tricky but clever syntax of the first film in favor of some tasty but less satisfying readings that are more in line with what you expect out of him. Chief among the issues is the character of Biederbeck, who the film never seems to want to decide if he's a proper protagonist or someone vying for Phibes' crown of villainy and deciding on neither, which isn't helped by Robert Quarry's flat performance that shows signs of the actor struggling to get a grasp on his role. All that being said, though, the film is still a damn good time, thanks to Robert Fuest still maintaining a great handle on the absurdity, and keeping the film moving along at a good clip, if not as strong as the first film was in that regard. He gets the chance to throw in some more out-there imagery, including a deeply wonderful moment involving a Sousaphone, and indulges in some more outrageous death sequences that are devoid of any kind of logic but still manage to impress all the same. Points also have to be given yet again to the batty rearrangements of tunes here, and I could hardly think of a more appropriate way for the film to end than Price being able to sing "that" song as he sails away to ultimate victory. There were certainly big shoes that this film had to fill, and while it struggles to match its predecessor, it fakes it well enough to make this easy to recommend, and it's certainly a very entertaining film at the end of the day.
Films for October 4: After kicking things off with unabashedly entertaining films, it's time to get a little more serious with a remake of one of the most beloved and influential horror films of all time with Nosferatu the Vampyre. And as a bit of extra credit outside the 70s theme of the main marathon, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari seems like a nice accompaniment, as well as being long overdue for a rewatch.
So with this we conclude Wes Craven's original Scream trilogy. "Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it" After watching Wes Craven's New Nightmare this movie immensely reminds me of it. The whole movie within a movie where the
killer is creating the script
is such a cool concept. This one surpasses Scream 2 for me and its really close to Scream one in terms of enjoyment factor. Although the opening scene in this one is the weakest of the original trilogy. Series with the biggest mommy issues though! 8.5/10
I tried watching scream for the first time earlier tonight and couldn't make it through. The parodies of that movie have colored my perception of it to the point where it's too ridiculous to take serious. It's unfortunate because I probably would have liked it if I watched it back when it came out.
3. Scream 2"Stab 2? Who wants to see that? Sequels suck!"
I saw the original Scream for last year's 31 Days and now it's time to pick up on the sequels. The sequel is pretty good with excellent chases, being somewhat self-aware with discussions on movie sequels. Another plot twist I didn't expect, though a nice homage (?) to
Friday the 13th
. Looking forward to Scream 3. I do notice this feels like a slasher version of Scooby-Doo.
We have a reboot! This movie is essentially basically a mixing of the lore-related aspects of Parts II and III (introduction of Jason, the mask), and crafting a new story from there. This one largely skips over the events of the original, only bringing us up to speed in brief flashback over the opening credits - and even that's just basically one scene. Not too much time is spent on any type of "origin", with the flashback being the only real look into the past. I kinda liked that, no need to get into anything insanely complicated or convoluted or long (or potentially making him sorta sympathetic).
The plot is nothing particularly life-changing, but it works: one group of kids goes camping near Crystal Lake, and all are picked off save one girl
who gets kidnapped by Jason
. A few weeks later, her brother comes looking for her, and along the way meets up another group of kids who are staying near Crystal Lake...and you go from there. Again, nothing too outlandish.
I recommend this one. The story moves along at a good speed, as does Jason (who fucking wrecks an entire group of kids like it's nothing, it's kind of amazing). If you get a chance, check it out.
I recommend this one. The story moves along at a good speed, as does Jason (who fucking wrecks an entire group of kids like it's nothing, it's kind of amazing). If you get a chance, check it out.
Supposedly the next Friday the 13th flick is coming around March. We'll see. I enjoyed the remake quite a bit. I'd rank it either number 3 or 4 on my Friday the 13th Tier List.
31 Days of Horror Pre-31 Days of Horror 1 - Behind the Mask Pre-31 Days of Horror 2 - Unfriended Day 1 - The Hills Have Eyes (2006) Day 2 - The Thing (1982) Day 3 - The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari Day 3 Double Feature - Dead Silence
The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the mandatory watches for this year’s 31 Days of Horror and a critically acclaimed horror film. This is possibly the first silent film I have watched from what I can remember. The aesthetics were weird to me, not bad, but different and I read somewhere that was the designer's intention. The transitions between scenes felt odd, but this might have been common in older films, especially silent films. The movie wasn’t scary as it was creepy. The silence alone creeped me out. The story is pretty simple and easy to follow, but it’s not that interesting. I found myself getting bored midway through the movie. The twist at the end was pretty cool, I guess, but I've seen a lot of movies with similar twists. I do not think I would recommend it to anyone. It’s not bad, but I can easily see someone who isn’t into silent films getting bored.
Rating: Skip
Dead Silence
For the past several years, I've seen this on Netflix and skipped it every damn time. Tonight was the night I decided I would watch it. I went in with low expectations and came out enjoying the film. It's not that great, but it's enjoyable. People who fear dolls, will enjoy this film
Go in with low expectations and you might enjoy it.
.
